the chief source of illustration for this volume, as in the case of the napoleon papers in mcclure’s magazine, is the great collection of engravings of mr. gardiner g. hubbard, which has been generously placed at the service of the publishers. in order to make the illustration still more comprehensive, a representative of mcclure’s magazine and an authorized agent of mr. hubbard visited paris, to seek there whatever it might be desirable to have in the way of additional pictures which were not within the scope of mr. hubbard’s splendid collection. they secured the assistance of m. armand dayot, inspecteur des beaux-arts, who possessed rare qualifications for the task. his official position he owed to his familiarity with the great art collections, both public and private, of france, and his official duties made him especially familiar with the great paintings relating to french history. besides, he was a specialist in napoleonic iconography. on account of his qualifications and special knowledge, he had been selected by the great house of hachette et cie, to edit their book on napoléon raconté par l’image, which was the first attempt to bring together in one volume the most important pictures relating to the military, political, and private life of napoleon. m. dayot had just completed this task, and was fresh from his studies of napoleonic pictures, when his aid was secured by the publishers of mcclure’s magazine, in supplementing the hubbard collection.
the work was prosecuted with the one aim of omitting no important picture. when great paintings indispensable 12to a complete pictorial life of napoleon were found, which had never been either etched or engraved, photographs were obtained, many of these photographs being made especially for our use.
a generous selection of pictures was made from the works of raffet and charlet. m. dayot was able also to add a number of pictures—not less than a score—of unique value, through his personal relations with the owners of the great private napoleonic collections. thus were obtained hitherto unpublished pictures, of the highest value, from the collections of monseigneur due d’aumale; of h. i. h., prince victor napoleon; of prince roland; of baron larrey, the son of the chief surgeon of the army of napoleon; of the duke of bassano, son of the minister and confidant of the emperor; of monsieur edmond taigny, the friend and biographer of isabey; of monsieur albert christophle, governor-general of the crédit-foncier of france; of monsieur paul le roux, who has perhaps the richest of the napoleonic collections; and of monsieur le marquis de girardin, son-in-law of the duc de ga?te, the faithful minister of finance of napoleon i. it will be easily understood that no doubt can be raised as to the authenticity of documents borrowed from such sources.
the following letter explains fully the plan on which mr. hubbard’s collection is arranged, and shows as well its admirable completeness. it gives, too, a classification of the pictures into periods, which will be useful to the reader.
washington, october, 1894.
s. s. mcclure, esq.
dear sir:—it is about fourteen years since i became interested in engravings, and i have since that time made a considerable collection, including many portraits, generally painted and engraved during the life of the personage. i have from two hundred to three hundred prints relating to napoleon, his family, and his generals. the earliest of these is a portrait of napoleon painted in 1791, when he was twenty-two years old; the next in date was engraved in 1796. there are many 13in each subsequent year, and four prints of drawings made immediately after his death.
there are few men whose characters at different periods of life are so distinctly marked as napoleon’s, as will appear by an examination of these prints. there are four of these periods: first period, 1796–1797, napoleon the general; second period, 1801–1804, napoleon the statesman and lawgiver; third period, 1804–1812, napoleon the emperor; fourth period, the decline and fall of napoleon, including waterloo and st. helena. most of these prints are contemporaneous with the periods described. the portraits include copies of the portraits painted by the greatest painters and engraved by the best engravers of that age. there are four engravings of the paintings by meissonier—“1807,” “napoleon,” “napoleon reconnoitering,” and “1814.”
first period, 1796–1797, napoleon the general.—in these the italian spelling of the name, “buonaparte,” is generally adopted. at this period there were many french and other artists in italy, and it would seem as if all were desirous of painting the young general. a french writer in a late number of the “gazette des beaux-arts” is uncertain whether gros, appiani, or cossia was the first to obtain a sitting from general bonaparte. it does not matter to your readers, as portraits by each of these artists are included in this collection.
there must have been other portraits or busts of bonaparte executed before 1796, besides the one by greuze given in this collection. these may be found, but there are no others in my collection. of the portraits of napoleon belonging to this period eight were engraved before 1798, one in 1800. all have the long hair falling below the ears over the forehead and shoulders; while all portraits subsequent to napoleon’s expedition to egypt have short hair. the length of the hair affords an indication of the date of the portrait.
second period, 1801–1804, napoleon the statesman and lawgiver.—during this period many english artists visited paris, and painted or engraved portraits of napoleon. in these the italian spelling “buonaparte” is adopted, while in the french engravings of this period he is called “bonaparte” or “general bonaparte.” especially noteworthy among them is “the review at the tuileries,” regarded by masson as the best likeness of napoleon “when thirty years old and in his best estate.” the portrait painted by gérard in 1803, and engraved by richomme, is by others considered the best of this period. there is already a marked change from the long and thin face in earlier portraits to the round and full face of this period. in some of these prints the code napoléon is introduced as an accessory.
third period, 1804–1812, napoleon the emperor.—he is now styled “napoléon,” “napoléon le grand,” or “l’empereur.” his chief painters in this period are léfevre, gérard, isabey, lupton, and david 14(with raphael-morghen, longhi, desnoyers, engravers)—artists of greater merit than those of the earlier periods. the full-length portrait by david has been copied oftener and is better known than any other.
it has been said that we cannot in the portraits of this period, executed by gérard, isabey, and david, find a true likeness of napoleon. his ministers thought “it was necessary that the sovereign should have a serene expression, with a beauty almost more than human, like the deified c?sars or the gods of whom they were the image.” “advise the painters,” napoleon wrote to duroc, september 15, 1807, “to make the countenance more gracious (plut?t gracieuses).” again, “advise the painters to seek less a perfect resemblance than to give the beau ideal in preserving certain features and in making the likeness more agreeable (plut?t agréable).”
fourth period, 1812–1815, decline and fall of napoleon.—we have probably in the front and side face made by girodet, and published in england, a true likeness of napoleon. it was drawn by girodet in the chapel of the tuileries, march 8, 1812, while napoleon was attending mass. it is believed to be a more truthful likeness than that by david, made the same year; the change in his appearance to greater fulness than in the portraits of 1801–1804 is here more plainly marked. he has now become corpulent, and his face is round and full. two portraits taken in 1815 show it even more clearly. one of these was taken immediately before the battle of waterloo, and the other, by j. eastlake, immediately after. mr. eastlake, then an art student, was staying at plymouth when the “bellerophon” put in. he watched napoleon for several days, taking sketches from which he afterwards made a full-length portrait.
the collection concludes with three notable prints: the first of the mask made by dr. antommarchi the day of his death, and engraved by calamatta in 1834; another of a drawing “made immediately after death by captain ibbetson, r. n.;” and the third of a drawing by captain crockatt, made fourteen hours after the death of napoleon, and published in london july 18, 1821. these show in a remarkable manner the head of this wonderful man.
the larger part of these prints was purchased through messrs. wunderlich & co., and messrs. keppel of new york, some at auctions in berlin, london, amsterdam, and stuttgart; very few in paris.
gardiner g. hubbard.
the historical and critical notes which accompany the illustrations in this volume have been furnished by mr. hubbard as a rule, though those signed a. d. come from the pen of m. armand dayot.
