6 min readMay 21, 2023 02:01 PM IST
First published on: May 21, 2023 at 12:30 PM IST
In the mid-19th century, Édouard Manet, the renowned French modernist painter, was known for his rebellious artistic style. His bold brushstrokes and unconventional themes made him an outcast in the conservative art society of the time. But Manet was unapologetic and continued to push boundaries in his work. It was during this time that he turned his attention to a controversial political event – The Execution of Emperor Maximilian. The execution was a recent yet significant event that had occurred in the short-lived Second Mexican Empire, and it caught Manet’s eye. Despite the controversy surrounding the event, Manet was fascinated by it and felt compelled to capture it on canvas. He executed a series of five paintings between 1867 and 1869, based on political reporting and quotations. The paintings depicted the execution by firing squad of Emperor Maximilian I, who had been captured by Mexican forces. Manet’s paintings were considered radical for their time as the French art society was not accustomed to such overtly political art, especially from a modernist painter. So, it was no surprise that the paintings were not displayed while Manet was alive. Despite this, Manet’s Execution of Emperor Maximilian’s paintings gained notoriety after his death. Why did Manet choose to paint this controversial political subject? What is the story behind the paintings?
Emperor Maximilian and the short-lived Second Mexican Empire
The execution of Emperor Maximilian was making the headlines in that period. Maximilian, who was the second son of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria of the House of Hapsburg and Princess Sophie of Bavaria, was encouraged by Napoleon III to become Emperor of Mexico following the French intervention in Mexico. Maximilian followed the advice and arrived in Mexico in May 1864. However, he faced a lot of opposition from forces loyal to the deposed president Benito Juárez throughout his reign, and the Empire collapsed after Napoleon withdrew French troops in 1866. His short reign took a drastic turn when he was captured on Cerro de las Campanas in May 1867 and sentenced to death at a court martial. He was then executed on 19 June 1867.
Why did Manet paint this subject?
Manet had his reasons to paint this gory political subject. He was known to support the Republican cause but was inspired to work on a painting influenced by Goya’s The Third of May 1808. The Kunsthalle Mannheim now houses the final work, which was painted between 1868 and 1869. It is interesting to know that in the lower left corner of the painting, Manet has signed his name and the date of Maximilian’s execution in 1867, not 1868–1869. According to art historians, Manet was not given permission to reproduce the lithograph in 1869 by unknown persons but an edition of 50 impressions was produced in 1884, after his death. Examples of the lithograph are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
What do the paintings showcase and why were they never exhibited during Monet’s lifetime?
The Boston version of the painting which is very famous showcases the soldiers wearing clothes and sombrero of Mexican Republicans. The Execution of Maximilian, Manet’s final piece in a series of compositions on the same theme that he wrote between 1867 and 1869, depicts a recent political event. The execution and the condemned individuals—Maximilian and two of his generals—are easily recognizable, and there is no doubt about the course of the action. However, the artist seems oddly to have set the scene away from the horrifying violence it implies. This is most evident in the officer on the far right, who is checking his rifle in peace, and in the line of rather indifferent spectators who are looking over the back wall. Maximilian’s face is painted rough and appears washed out, but his hat tilts upward to frame his head like a martyr’s halo. However, according to the old-school artwork, there is one thing that is entirely incorrect about the painting. Due to the wall’s height, the spectators could not be in the shown position unless they were standing on scaffolding. The artist, aware without a shadow of a doubt that this is a flawed drawing, may have tried to hide it by making the foreground stand out strongly from the background and drawing attention away from the wall’s base by placing it as little as possible between the prisoners’ and soldiers’ black-trousered legs. In fact, for want of Mexicans, the artist had been forced to borrow a squad from a French regiment.
In the Execution of Maximilian, Manet appears to be as much worried about historical artworks as the event that took place. The painting’s composition is very similar to Francisco Goya’s famous Third of May, 1808, in which French troops kill Spanish citizens. The work of Manet maintains a coolly ambiguous tone, although Goya’s image includes both absolute heroes and villains. The painting seems to avoid taking a firm stance on the contentious events surrounding Maximilian’s execution, acting almost like reportage. The artist appeared to have adapted elements of the work from French newspapers and accounts of eyewitnesses. The Execution implicitly criticized Napoleon III, despite its aesthetic claims to objectivity. As a result, the lithograph of the work was censored by the French government, and the painting itself was not shown to the public until 1879.
Édouard Manet’s The Execution of Emperor Maximilian stands as a testament to the power of art to capture the depth of human emotion and the gravity of historical events. Through his unique style and unflinching portrayal, Manet brings to life the tragedy surrounding Maximilian’s execution. The painting’s ability to evoke empathy and provoke contemplation has secured its place as a timeless masterpiece in the annals of art history.
Next up in Behind the Art: A French Triumph or Misrepresentation? The Story Behind Girodet’s Cairo Uprising Painting
Édouard Manet. The Execution of Emperor Maximilian. 1868–69. (Image source: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/8#:~:text=Abandoned%20by%20the%20French%20government,was%20inaugurating%20that%20year's%20Universal) 
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