Detaille, Edouard (b Paris, 5 Oct 1848; d Paris, 23 Dec 1912).

French painter. He was born into a prosperous family from Picardy with a military background, his grandfather having served as an arms supplier to Napoleon. Detaille’s early interest in art was encouraged by his father, an amateur artist and friend of collectors and painters, including the battle-painter Horace Vernet. At 17 he approached Ernest Meissonier for an introduction to Alexandre Cabanel, but Meissonier preferred to take on Detaille as a pupil himself and was an enormously important influence on his artistic development. From Meissonier he learnt finesse of execution and an appreciation for precise observation. He was soon encouraged to set up on his own and at the Salon of 1869 won approval for his canvas A Rest During the Manoeuvre, Camp St Maur (untraced). In the spring of 1870 he and three other young artists, E. P. Berne-Bellecour (1838–1910), L. Leloir (1843–84) and J. G. Vibert (1840–1902), undertook a sketching trip to Algeria. At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War (1870), Detaille obtained a staff position with General Appert, which enabled him to observe the hostilities first hand; this experience provided the mainstay of his subsequent artistic output