It was realism of a very different kind that made public opinion place Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891) on a pinnacle, from which he has only in recent years been transferred to the more modest position due to him, for the exquisite minute care he bestowed upon the working out of insignificant details. Meissonier was a draughtsman and an illustrator rather than a painter. As a colourist he does not count. He had no appreciation of values, textures, substances, and surfaces. Nothing could be more to the point than Manet’s mordant remark that in Meissonier’s pictures “everything is of iron except the cuirasses.” Still, the mind that finds delight in small things will dwell with pleasure upon the microscopic details of his little costume pictures _The Flute Player_ (No. 2887), _The Poet_ (No. 2889), and several similar “gems” at the Louvre. Strangely enough the _Portrait of Mme. Gerriot_ (No. 2965), which he painted at the age of nineteen, has more breadth and real character than any of his later works. The chief task of Meissonier’s life was the glorification of Napoleon I.’s campaigns. Of this famous series the Louvre includes no example. On the other hand, the collection owns three important historical pictures from his brush in _Napoleon III. at Solferino_ (No. 2957), which long hung in the Luxembourg Gallery, _Napoleon III. surrounded by his Staff_ (No. 2958), and _The Siege of Paris_ (No. 2969), in the painting of which he had at least the advantage of personal experience, as he had followed the Emperor’s army on the Italian campaign, and was in Paris during the siege. Altogether the Louvre owns no fewer than twenty-nine paintings by Meissonier. RICARD