General Jean-Baptiste Kléber (Sketch for "The Battle of the Pyramids"), c.1835 (oil on linen)

In 1810, Gros exhibited a massive painting of Napoleon at the 1798 Battle of the Pyramids (see below), one of the rare French triumphs in the failed campaign to conquer Egypt (1789-1801). After Napoleon first fell from power in 1814, the painting went into storage, until the new king Louis-Philippe chose to resurrect it for a history museum in Paris. However, perhaps to diminish Napoleon’s significance, the government asked Gros to amplify the original with an addition at each end. This painting incorporates General Kléber, a famously successful military leader who had been excluded from the original painting.