Introduction In this essay, the painting-The Execution of Maximilian I and the sculptural installation-The Execution of Christ have been selected to demonstrate how two artworks in different periods can have many similarities yet still hold true to their own beliefs, their relationship with the subject and his or their intended viewing audience to create a definitive style. A French impressionism artist, Édouard Manet’s painting, The Execution of Maximilian I (fig. 1),1868–69, oil on canvas, 99 3/16 x 118 7/8" (252 x 302 cm), Kunsthalle, Mannheim1 and Beijing-based artists, the Gao Brothers’ sculptural installation, The Execution of Christ (fig. 2), 2009, bronze, life size, have been selected to represent the historical and contemporary works respectively. In The Execution of Maximilian I, Manet depicts a contemporary event of political significance - the fatal moment when the idealistic but naive archduke of Austria, Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, was executed alongside two of his generals by Benito Juárez’s Mexican forces in 1867. Clearly, he draws on the model of Goya’s earlier painting, The Third of May (fig. 4), 1808 in which2 the massacre of Spanish nationalists by invading French under the orders of Napoleon I. Hundred years later, the Gao Brothers appropriated from Edouard Manet’s The Execution of Maximilian and created The Execution of Christ (fig.3). Both works show the executioners at right, the executed at left. But how the scenes are depicted, the tone and mood set by Manet and the Gao Brothers, are distinctly different. The reasons why both artists create the artworks: Before comparing the visual compositions of two artworks,I am going to discuss what causes them to create such works. Firstly, though not generally a politically motivated painter, Manet paint was inspired to make a statement about Maximilian’s execution.As a republican, he disapproved of Napoleon III's actions including the controversial French intervention in Mexico3. 4Maximilian, a member of the Hapsburg family of Austria, had been installed in power in Mexico by Napoleon III of France as a ‘puppet emperor’5 with aim of forcing Mexico to pay its foreign debts and establish a European presence there.6 However, it became a failure miserably, ending with the execution of Maximilian and two of his generals by firing squad on June 19, 1867. It seems Manet was irritated and started work on the depiction of Maximilian's execution soon after the first reports of it had reached Paris at the beginning of July 1867. Correspondingly, impact from their horrible family’s 7experience during China’s 1966-1967 Cultural Revolution8 and grievance towards Mao Zedong and the Chinese government, the Gao Brothers create works, notably The Execution of Christ, which ‘ranges from the political and satirical to questions of material and spiritual spaces, and takes a humanitarian stance that questions the role government and the individual play within contemporary Chinese society since 1985.9’ Thus, it can be seen that both of them are critical of the dark reign of the role governments and express their disdain for brutality of significant political incident or war through visual methods ironically, even though they are of different origin and in different period. Similarities and differences in visual compositions and tone: Since the composition of The Execution of Christ is a direct echo of The Execution of Maximilian as noted above, both depicts the firing squad and the condemned men. In The Execution of Maximilian I, there are 3 victims, who are the Emperor Maximilian (fig. 5) in the center and his two Mexican ally-generals, Mejía on his right and Miramón on his left facing 7 firing squad, and the former – in a show of dignity and loyalty – movingly clasps his hand in their final moment. Also, to a certain extent, the way Manet has set the scene seems oddly detached from the dreadful violence it implies. This is most obvious in the figure of