The Execution of Maximilian

Napoleon III of France installed Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico in 1864, only to recall his support in the face of resistance from Mexican republican forces and threats from the United States. The 1867 execution of Maximilian with two of his generals inspired Manet to undertake the most ambitious of his artistic projects based on current events. He worked for several months on a large composition intended for the 1868 Salon, producing four paintings and a lithograph.
Too politically controversial to be shown to a Parisian audience, none of the paintings were exhibited in France during his lifetime. Left in his studio, they were seen only by a few of the artist’s close associates, including perhaps Degas. This painting was cut into pieces—it is unclear whether Manet was responsible—which were sold off to dealers and collectors after his death. Degas painstakingly acquired the fragments and mounted them on an enormous canvas that hung at the center of a museum-like gallery on the first floor of his apartment.


*This work was in Degas’s collection.