Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 3 of 3) by S. Spooner (best ebook reader under 100 TXT) 📖

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'Armée, 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.

 

A finely executed medal, two inches and five-eights in diameter,

represents Napoleon enthroned in his full imperial costume, holding a

laurel wreath; on the reverse is a head of _Minerva_, surrounded by

laurel and various trophies of the fine arts, with this

inscription--_Ecole Francaise des Beaux Arts à Rome, rétablie et

augmentée par Napoleon en 1803_. The reverses--of the Cathedral at

Paris--a warrior sheathing his sword (on the battle of Jena)--and

Bonaparte holding up the King of Rome, and presenting him to the

people--are amongst the most highly finished and most inestimable

specimens of art.

 

Unquestionably the _worst_ in the collection is the consular medal,

which, on that account, deserves description; it is, in size, about a

half crown piece, on the exergue, over a small head of Bonaparte, is

inscribed _Bonaparte premier consul_; beneath it, _Cambacères second

consul, le Brun troisième consul de la république Francaise_; on the

reverse, _Le peuple Francais à défenseurs, cette première pierre de la

colonne nationale, posée par Lucien Bonaparte, ministre de l'interieur,

25 Messidore, An 8, 14 Juillet, 1800_.--One other medal only appears

with the name of Lucien Bonaparte; it is that struck in honor of Marshal

Turenne, upon the _Translation du corps de Turenne au Temple de Mars par

les ordres du premier Consul Bonaparte_; and is of a large size, bearing

the head of Turenne, with, beneath it, _Sa gloire appartient au peuple

Francais_. Several are in honor of General Desaix, whose memory Napoleon

held in great esteem. Those on his marriage with Marie Louise bear her

head beside his own; and a small one on that occasion has for its

reverse, a Cupid carrying with difficulty a thunderbolt. Those on the

birth of their child bear the same heads on the exergue, with the head

of an infant, on the reverse, inscribed, _Napoleon François Joseph

Charles, Rio de Rome, XX. Mars M.DCCCXI.--Ireland_.

 

 

 

 

THE ELEPHANT FOUNTAIN.

 

 

When Napoleon had decided that a stupendous fountain should occupy the

centre of the area where the celebrated state prison of the Bastille

stood, the several artists, employed by the government, were ordered to

prepare designs for the undertaking, and numerous drawings were in

consequence sent in for the emperor's inspection. On the day appointed,

he proceeded to examine these specimens, not one of which, however,

proved at all commensurate with the vast idea he had in contemplation;

wherefore, after pacing the chamber a few minutes, Napoleon suddenly

halted, exclaiming: "Plant me a colossal elephant there, and let the

water spout from his extended trunk!" All the artists stood astonished

at this bold idea, the propriety and grandeur of which immediately

flashed conviction upon their minds, and the only wonder of each was,

that no such thought should have presented itself to his own

imagination: the simple fact is, _there was but one Napoleon

present_!--_Communicated to Ireland by David._

 

This fountain was modeled in Plaster of Paris on the spot. It is

seventy-two feet in height; the _jet d'eau_ is through the nostrils of

his trunk; the reservoir in the tower on his back; and one of his legs

contains the staircase for ascending to the large room in the inside of

his belly. The elephant was to have been executed in bronze, with tusks

of silver, surrounded by lions of bronze, which were to spout water from

one cistern to another.

 

 

 

 

INTERESTING DRAWINGS.

 

 

On the sailing of the French expedition for Egypt, from Malta, under the

orders of Bonaparte, the fleet was intentionally dispersed in order to

arrive without being noticed; they had no sooner, however, left Malta,

than they learned that Nelson had penetrated their design, and was in

pursuit of them. Expecting every hour to be come up with, and being too

weak to risk a combat, it was the resolution of Bonaparte and the rest

of the illustrious persons on board the _Orient_ to blow her up, rather

than be taken prisoners; but, that the memory of those who perished

might be preserved, and their features known by posterity, Bonaparte

caused the portraits of eighteen to be taken on two sheets of paper,

which were to be rolled up, put in bottles, and committed to the waves:

the names of the persons are,--

 

_First Drawing._

 

Desaix,

Berthier,

Kleber,

Dalomieu,

Berthollet,

Bonaparte,

Caffarelli,

Brueys,

Monge.

 

 

_Second Drawing._

 

Rampon,

Junot,

Regnier,

Desgenettes,

Larrey,

Murat,

Lasnes,

Belliard,

Snulkanski.

 

The portraits were executed in medallions, with India ink; they were

carefully preserved by the famous surgeon, Baron Larrey; and they

adorned his study at Paris till his death.

 

 

 

 

SEVRES CHINA.

 

 

On the river at Sévres, near Paris, a manufactory is carried on, which

produces the beautiful porcelain, commonly called Sévres, china. It is

equal to all that has been said of it, and after declining, as every

other great national establishment did, during the revolution,

flourished greatly under the peculiar patronage of the emperor Napoleon.

He made presents hence to those sovereigns of Europe with whom he was in

alliance. Napoleon had two vases made of this china, which, even at this

day, form the principal ornament of the gallery at St. Cloud. These

were made at Sévres, and are valued at 100,000 francs each. The clay

made use of was brought at a great expense from a distant part of

France, and affords an instance of how much the value of raw material

may be increased by the ingenuity of a skillful artist.

 

 

 

 

DISMANTLING OF THE LOUVRE.

 

 

In Scott's Paris Revisited (A. D. 1815), we have the following

interesting particulars of the removal of the celebrated pictures and

statues from this famous emporium of the fine arts.

 

"Every day new arrivals of strangers poured into Paris, all anxious to

gain a view of the Louvre, before its collection was broken up; it was

the first point to which all the British directed their steps every

morning, in eager curiosity to know whether the business of removal had

commenced. The towns and principalities, that had been plundered, were

making sedulous exertions to influence the councils of the allies to

determine on a general restoration; and several of the great powers

leaned decidedly towards such a decision.

 

"Before actual force was employed, representations were repeated to the

French government, but the ministers of the king of France would neither

promise due satisfaction, nor uphold a strenuous opposition. They showed

a sulky disregard of every application. A deputation from the

Netherlands formally claimed the Dutch and Flemish pictures taken during

the revolutionary wars from those countries; and this demand was

conveyed through the Duke of Wellington, as commander-in-chief of the

Dutch and Belgian armies. About the same time, also, Austria determined

that her Italian and German towns, which had been despoiled, should have

their property replaced, and Canova, the anxious representative of Rome,

after many fruitless appeals to Talleyrand, received assurances that he,

too, should be furnished with an armed force sufficient to protect him

in taking back to that venerable city, what lost its highest value in

its removal from thence.

 

"Contradicting reports continued to prevail among the crowds of

strangers and natives as to the intentions of the allies, but on

Saturday, the 23d of September, all doubt was removed. On going up to

the door of the Louvre, I found a guard of one hundred and fifty British

riflemen drawn up outside. I asked one of the soldiers what they were

there for? 'Why, they tell me, sir, that they mean to take away the

pictures,' was his reply. I walked in amongst the statues below, and on

going to the great staircase, I saw the English guard hastily trampling

up its magnificent ascent: a crowd of astonished French followed in the

rear, and, from above, many of the visitors in the gallery of pictures

were attempting to force their way past the ascending soldiers,

catching an alarm from their sudden entrance. The alarm, however, was

unfounded; but the spectacle that presented itself was very impressive.

A British officer dropped his men in files along this magnificent

gallery, until they extended, two and two, at small distances, from its

entrance to its extremity. All the spectators were breathless, in

eagerness to know what was to be done, but the soldiers stopped as

machines, having no care beyond obedience to their orders.

 

"The work of removal now commenced in good earnest: porters with

barrows, and ladders, and tackles of ropes made their appearance. The

collection of the Louvre might from that moment be considered as broken

up for ever. The sublimity of its orderly aspect vanished: it took now

the melancholy, confused, desolate air of a large auction room, after a

day's sale. Before this, the visitors had walked down its profound

length with a sense of respect on their minds, influencing them to

preserve silence and decorum, as they contemplated the majestic

pictures; but decency and quiet were dispelled when the signal was given

for the breaking up of the establishment. It seemed as if a nation had

become ruined through improvidence, and was selling off.

 

"The guarding of the Louvre was committed by turns to the British and

Austrians, while this process lasted. The Prussians said that they had

done their own business for themselves, and would not now incur odium

for others. The workmen being incommoded by the crowds that now rushed

to the Louvre, as the news spread of the destruction of its great

collection, a military order came that no visitors should be admitted

without permission from the foreign commandant of Paris. This direction

was pretty much adhered to by the sentinels as far as the exclusion of

the French, but the words _Je suis Anglais_, were always sufficient to

gain leave to pass from the Austrians: our own countrymen were rather

more strict, but, in general, foreigners could, with but little

difficulty, procure admission. The Parisians stood in crowds around the

door, looking wistfully within it, as it occasionally opened to admit

Germans, English, Russians, &c., into a palace of their capital from

which they were excluded. I was frequently asked by French gentlemen,

standing with ladies on their arms, and kept back from the door by the

guards, to take them into their own Louvre, under my protection as an

unknown foreigner! It was impossible not to feel for them in these

remarkable circumstances of mortification and humiliation; and the

agitation of the French public was now evidently excessive. Every

Frenchman looked a walking volcano, ready to spit forth fire. Groups of

the common people collected in the space before the Louvre, and a

spokesman was generally seen, exercising the most violent

gesticulations, sufficiently indicative of rage, and listened to by the

others, with lively signs of sympathy with his passion. As the packages

came out, they crowded round them, giving vent to torrents of _pestes_,

_diables_, _sacres_, and other worse interjections.

 

"Wherever an Englishman went, in Paris, at this time, whether into a

shop or a company, he was assailed with the exclamation, _'Ah! vos

compatriotes!'_ and the ladies had always some wonderful story to tell

him, of an embarrassment or mortification that had happened to _his_

duke; of the evil designs of the Prince Regent, or the dreadful revenge

that was preparing against the injuries of France. The great gallery of

the Louvre presented every fresh day a more and more forlorn aspect; but

to the reflecting mind, it combined a number of interesting points of

view. The gallery now seemed to be the abode of all the foreigners in

the French capital:--we collected there, as a matter of course, every

morning--but it was easy to distinguish the last comers from the rest.

They entered the Louvre with steps of eager haste, and looks of anxious

inquiry; they seemed to have scarcely stopped by the way--and to have

made directly for the pictures on the instant of their reaching Paris.

The first view of the stripped walls made their countenances sink under

the disappointment, as to the great object of their journey. Crowds

collected round the _Transfiguration_--that picture which, according to

the French account, _destiny_ had always intended for the French nation:

it was every one's wish to see it taken down, for the fame which this

great work of Raffaelle had acquired, and its notoriety in the general

knowledge, caused its departure to be regarded as the consummation of

the destruction of the picture gallery of the Louvre. It was taken away

among the last.

 

"Students of all nations fixed themselves round the principal pictures,

anxious to complete their copies before the workmen came to remove the

originals. Many young French girls were seen among these, perched upon

small scaffolds, and calmly pursuing their labors in the midst of the

throng and bustle. When