Execution of the Emperor Maximilian 1867 Edouard Manet 195.9 x 259.7 cm (77 1/8 x 102 1/4 in.) Oil on canvas
The Execution of Emperor Maximilian is a series of paintings by Édouard Manet from 1867 to 1869, depicting the execution by firing squad of Emperor Maximilian I of the short-lived Second Mexican Empire. Manet produced three large oil paintings, a smaller oil sketch and a lithograph of the same subject. All five works were brought together for an exhibition in London and Mannheim in 1992–93, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2006.
In 1867, Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, was executed with two of his generals by order of the opposing leader, Benito Juárez. The Parisian press reacted with horror against the rebel troops in Mexico and against Napoleon III in France; Napoleon had installed the Austrian Maximilian on the Mexican throne in 1864, but later withdrew support for his regime. Breaking with tradition, Manet represented the contemporary event on the grand scale usually reserved for scenes from ancient history or myth. This unfinished canvas is the first of several versions.
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