In the Thick of Battle, a Melee 

Luc-Olivier Merson made this artwork, In the Thick of Battle, a Melee, with pen and ink. Merson created this piece in France. The focus of the image is on medieval combat, but the real substance is in the details of the warriors’ attire, their weapons, and the chaos of close-quarters battle. As a genre, history painting had a clear public role in nineteenth-century France. These images didn’t just represent the past, but also shaped a specific kind of national identity. We can consider, for instance, the prevalence of medieval and ancient themes in French art. It was during this time that France searched for its national origins, and these images helped to consolidate a sense of nationhood. Researching military history and nineteenth-century French nationalism would help us understand the artwork even more. Ultimately, a historian can reveal the ways artistic production is always tied to the social and institutional context.