Uhlans on the march (Ulanen auf dem Marsch)

Uhlans on the March (1859), in the Bavarian State Painting Collections, belongs to Marées's earliest period and engages the military genre subject that was a standard part of nineteenth-century German painting. The Uhlans were the lancer cavalry of the Prussian and later German armies, an elite unit with a distinctive uniform — the characteristic czapka headgear — that made them easily recognizable and compositionally striking. Military genre was commercially viable in the 1850s and 1860s, and Marées, still finding his direction, engaged it before his decisive turn toward the classical figure subjects that would occupy his mature career. The work predates his Italian years and reflects the academic Munich training from which he was gradually freeing himself.

The military subject demands careful attention to the specific equipment and uniforms of the Uhlan cavalry — the lance, distinctive headgear, and horse furniture. Marées handles the horses with the competence of academic training: the animals are convincingly structured and in motion. The broad, open landscape setting provides space for the column's movement.