Book Description

Depicting the famous meeting of Wellington and Blucher directly after their joint victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815, Maclise's monumental 'cartoon' caused a sensation when it was first shown at the House of Lords in 1859. Everything was evocative to the highest degree: from the vast scale to the magnificent craftsmanship, to the picture's theme, which refuses to glamorise war and affords Waterloo's victims as much attention as its heroes. And although it has rarely been exhibited, this 'cartoon' remains a powerful work of art to this day. In this concise but comprehensive volume Annette Wickham looks in detail at the story of the cartoon's creation and the reasons it has been hidden for so long, while the military expert Mark Murray-Flutter offers an engaging analysis of the arms, equipment and characters portrayed in each scene. This book may be small, but to the military enthusiast or art devotee, it will be invaluable. AUTHOR: Annette Wickham is Curator of Works on Paper at the Royal Academy of Arts. Mark Murray-Flitter is Senior Curator of Sporting Firearms and Weapons at the Royal Armouries, Leeds. SELLING POINTS: * Features a full-colour fold-out of Maclise's cartoon * Will fascinate art and military history enthusiasts alike 25 colour