Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects, and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 3 of 3)Spooner, Shearjashub
History
Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects, and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 3 of 3)
Spooner, Shearjashub
Art -- Anecdotes; Artists -- Anecdotes
His medal, on assuming the purple, has his portrait, _Napoleon
Empereur_, by Andrieu, who executed nearly all the portraits on his
medals; on the reverse, he is in his imperial robes, elevated by two
figures, one armed, inscribed, _Le Senat et le Peuple_.
The _battle of Austerlitz_ has, on the reverse, simply a thunderbolt,
with a small figure of Napoleon, enrobed and enthroned on the upper end
of the shaft of the thunder.
In 1804, he struck a medal with a Herculean figure on the reverse,
confining the head of the English leopard between his knees, whilst
preparing a cord to strangle him, inscribed _En l'An XII. 2000 barques
sont construites_;--this was in condemnation of the invasion and
conquest of England.
The reverse of the medal on the _battle of Jena_ represents Napoleon on
an eagle in the clouds, as warring with giants on the earth, whom he
blasts with thunderbolts.
The medal on the _Confederation of the Rhine_ has, for its reverse,
numerous warriors in ancient armor, swearing with their right hands on
an altar, formed of an immense fasces, with the imperial eagle
projecting from it.
Not the least characteristic of the series is a medal, with the usual
head _Napoleon Emp. et Roi_, on the exergue, with this remarkable
reverse, a throne, with the imperial robes over the back and across the
sceptre, which is in the chair; before the throne is a table, with
several crowns, differing in shape and dignity, and some sceptres with
them lying upon it; three crowns are on the ground, one broken and two
upside down; an eagle with a fasces hovers in the air; the inscription
is, _Souverainetes donnes_ M.DCCCVI.
The reverses of the last four in succession, struck during the reign of
Napoleon, are, 1. The _Wolga_, rising with astonishment from his bed at
the sight of the French eagle; 2. A representation of _la Bataille de la
Moskowa, 7 Septembre, 1812_; 3. _A view of Moscow_, with the French flag
flying on the Kremlin, and an ensign of the French eagle, bearing the
letter N. loftily elevated above its towers and minarets, dated 14th
September, 1812; 4. A figure in the air, directing a furious storm
against an armed warrior resembling Napoleon, who, unable to resist the
attack, is sternly looking back, whilst compelled to fly before it--a
dead horse, cannon dismounted, and a wagon full of troops standing
still, perishing in fields of snow; the inscription is, _Retraite de
l'Armee, Novembre, 1812_.
The workmanship of the preceding medals are admirable, but most of them
are surpassed in that respect by some to which we can do little more
than allude.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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