Western history painting tends to be epic in proportion. Writ large across a panoramic expanse, so as to permit the picturing of battalions and masses; to instruct the viewer in one fell glance, about the vastness of the enterprise and the territory at stake. The French and British were especially good at this kind of terrascope and showed tremendous patience and technical deliberation for the detailed aspects of drawn swords, epaulettes and heroic grimaces the discarded defeated and the grateful, protected peasant.