Nicolas Joseph Maison (1771–1840), Marshal

Born into a bourgeois family from the Parisian region, Nicolas-Joseph Maison enrolled into a voluntary battalion in 1792. He was in service throughout all campaigns of the Revolution, the Consulate, and the Empire, during which time he earned several distinctions. Upon the downfall of Napoleon I, he allied himself with the Bourbons and refused to support the Emperor during the Hundred Days. Baron of the Empire in 1808, before being named a Count, Maison was appointed a Marquis in 1817. In 1828, he was named leader of the French expedition in Morea (Peloponnese) in support of the Greek uprising against the Ottoman Empire. Leading fourteen thousand men, he claimed the citadels of Navarino and Morea and executed Ibrahim Pasha's mission against the Turks. Praised for his great success, he was raised to the rank of Marshal of France.
It was at this time that his portrait was commissioned, destined to be displayed in the Marshal's private quarters in the Tuileries Palace; the execution of this task was entrusted to Léon Cogniet.
The work was presented at the 1831 Salon, where it was greeted with such positive feedback that critics lauded it as "the best full-size portrait of the exhibition." The artist created a monumental portrait of his subject; the conqueror of the Morea expedition poses in a majestic fashion, proudly standing firm, in full-dress attire with gold details adding to his character's prowess. Under the command tent, weapons seized from the enemy have been laid out at his feet. However, this piece was destroyed in the Tuileries fire of 1871.
Intended for the marshal himself, this copy is a replica, just of a smaller scale than the original. It was most likely part of the initial commission made to Léon Cogniet, with whom Maison himself set out the modalities.