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The following biography is from the archives of askArt.
"The most famous and successful painter of the nineteenth century" (3), Jean Meissonier, born in Lyon, represented the conservatism of the French Academy, the force defied by Impressionists who led the new modernism. At that time, which was the mid to late 19th Century, his paintings brought very high prices, and he spent lavishly on personal possessions including his home, furnishings and horses in the stables. Three times, he was awarded the Grand Medal of Honor, which was unprecendented, and in 1889, he received the Grand Cross, which was the highest honor of the Legion Honor and which in recognizing him, was the first time this award was given to an artist.
His favorite painting subject was Emperor Napoleon, especially in victorious mode, which reinforced the popularity of that leader and the many romantic notions about his personae. For Napoleon's image in the conquering scene, The Campaign of France, painted by Meissonier, the artist posed for Napoleon "because his own short, powerful physique perfectly matched the Emperor's." (5) The artist did extensive research so that his paintings were accurate with details of battle, uniforms, geography, and lighting and shadows reflecting the actual time of day or night. Often viewers of his work brought magnifying glasses to see more clearly the details he depicted.
William Vanderbilt of New York purchased Meissonier's Friedland, showing Napoleon's victory in 1807 over the Russian army, and placed it in his townhouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Meissonier also served as juror for the annual French Salon, and was supportive of other artists, even the ones whose work defied his own.
He died in 1891 at age 76, never learning the fate of near oblivion of his reputation into the next decades when Modernism took over European and American art.
Source:
James F. Cooper, "The Judgment of Paris", American Arts Quarterly, Winter 2007, pp. 2-4