This extreme rare and finely detailed military watercolour depicting episode from the Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon`s greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition. On 2 December 1805, commanded by Emperor Napoleon I (his ridding figure you can see on the watercolour in the foreground left from other figures of his generals), decisively defeated a Russian-Austrian army, commanded by Tsar Alexander I and Francis I (Francis II of Holy Roman Empire).The French victory at Austerlitz effectively brought the Third Coalition to an end. On 26 December 1805, Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg, which took Austria out of the war, made Austria cede land to Napoleon´s German allies. Russian troops were allowed to head back to home soil. Victory at Austerlitz also permitted the creation of the Confederation of Rhine, a collection of German states intended as a buffer zone between France and central Europe. In 1806, the the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when Holy Roman Emperor Francis II kept Francis I of Austria as his only official title. These achievements, however, did not establish a lasting peace on the continent. Prussian worries about growing French influence in Central Europe sparked the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806.The author of this watercolour , famous French battle painter Theodore Jung (1803 Strasbourg - 1865 ibid) studied by G.Guerin in Starssbourg and Simon Fort in Paris, worked in Paris as employed by Depot de la Guerre of War Department exhibited his battle scenes, especially with motifs from French battles 1805-1814 in Salon de Paris 1834/1864 (mostly in watercolor), also known with brochures from battle field locations. A number of these watercolors in the Museum of Versailles, in the Depot de la Guerre of the war ministry, in Musee de l´Army in Paris and in private estates in Paris and Strasbourg.Provenance: Paris noble private estate.

Literature: E. Benezit " Dictionary of painters, sculptors, decorators and etchers"(in French), Paris, 1999; "General Artist´s Lexicon " by Thieme/Becker, bellier-Auvray, dict. gen. des art. de l`ec.franc. I, 1892.

Inscription: signed and dated (1)844 under image lower left, , on the matt under image - original label with the title "Austerlitz", on the reverse of original cover - antique label with the historical or provenance inscription in French (see additional photo ).

Technique: watercolour on paper, original period matt and gold-plated frame.

Measurements: unframed w 9 " x h 5 1/2" ( 23 x 14 cm), framed w 19 " x h 15 1/3 " (48 x 39 cm)

Condition: in very good original condition,