The Defense of Paris

Ernest Waterlow painted 'The Defense of Paris' in 1870 during a pivotal moment in European history—the Franco-Prussian War and the Siege of Paris. This early work was created when Waterlow was just twenty years old, shortly before he would win the prestigious Turner medal for landscape painting at the Royal Academy in 1873. The painting captures the tense atmosphere of a city under siege, when Prussian forces surrounded Paris from September 1870 to January 1871, leading to severe hardship for the city's inhabitants. Though Waterlow would become best known for his elegant landscapes handled with 'grace and distinction,' this work demonstrates his early engagement with historical events and contemporary subjects. The modest scale of the oil panel—just over a foot wide—creates an intimate viewing experience, drawing the viewer into this dramatic historical moment. Waterlow's ability to address such weighty subject matter at a young age hints at the artistic maturity that would later earn him a knighthood in 1902 and election as president of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1897.