Jean Baptiste Édouard Detaille (October 5, 1848 – December 23, 1912), was a French Academic painter and military artist noted for his precision and realistic detail.
Detaille was a student of Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier. He served in the French Army in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 and became the official painter of the battles. He is famous for his portraits of soldiers and depictions of military manoeuvres, military uniforms and general military life. In particular are his stirring paintings of the Napoleonic Wars. His book, L'Armée Française, containing hundreds of his illustrations and prints, remains definitive. During his life, he amassed a vast collection of military uniforms and artifacts which was bequethed to the Musée de l'Armée in Paris following his death.
Detaille appears as a guest at a party at the home of the Princesse de Guermante in Part Two: Chapter One of Marcel Proust's novel, Cities of the Plain, where Detaille is referred to as "the creator of the Dream," his 1888 painting also known as Le Reve which shows soldiers asleep on a battlefield dreaming of military glory. The painting, which is located at the Musee D'Orsay in Paris, also appears in Paintings in Proust by Eric Karpeles, published by Thames & Hudson.