Hippolyte Bellangé
1800–1866 · French battle painter and printmaker
Joseph Louis Hippolyte Bellangé (1800-1866) was a French battle painter whose work was shaped by the wars of the first Napoleon. As a young man he made military drawings in lithography before studying systematically under Antoine-Jean Gros.
Apart from a few portraits, he devoted himself almost entirely to battle scenes. He received a second-class medal in 1824 for a historical picture, and in 1834 he was awarded the Legion of Honour, becoming an officer of the order in 1861. He also won a prize at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855.
Among his best-known works are The Battle of Fleurus and The Battle of Wagram, both at Versailles, and The Passage of the Mincio. His Crimean War pictures include The Two Friends, Sebastopol, 1855, and Episode of the Taking of the Malakoff. He also painted The Return of Napoleon from Elba and The Cuirassiers at Waterloo. His last work, The Guard Dies, was shown at the Salon of 1866. His legacy lies mainly in shaping the visual image of the Napoleonic epic for nineteenth-century audiences.