[1] Blücher was a noted military commander who had played a key role in the 1813-14 defeat of Napoleon's French Empire by a coalition of Allies including Britain, Prussia, Russia and Austria, culminating in the capture of Paris in April 1814.

Blücher was popular with the British public during his visit and in the euphoria that followed the victory he was frequently mobbed in the streets of the city.

The following year he gained further success when he joined forces with the Duke of Wellington in the Waterloo Campaign to inflict the final defeat of Napoleon, who had escaped from Elba.

Blücher is shown against a warlike background in his field marshal's uniform, wearing a miniature of the Regent, the Prussian Iron Cross and Order of the Black Eagle, the Austrian Order of Maria Theresa and the Russian Cross of St. George, decorations of the four major allies who defeated Napoleon.

An 1814 portrait of the Russian general Matvei Platov serves almost as a rough companion piece to the artist's depiction of Blücher, featuring a similar pose.