Mort de Gaston de Foix à la bataille de Ravenne, le 11 avril 1512

This painting depicts the death of Gaston de Foix at the Battle of Ravenna on 11 April 1512. Gaston de Foix, Duke of Nemours and nephew of Louis XII, was one of the most brilliant young military leaders of the kingdom of France during the Italian Wars. Although victorious at Ravenna against the Holy League, he was killed at the very moment when French victory was taking shape, giving the episode a strong dramatic dimension. The work emphasizes both chivalric heroism, the violence of the battlefield, and the fragility of military glory, in a romantic vision of history characteristic of the 19th century.