Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects and Curiosities of Art Part 19

_The Pantheon._

The pillars supporting the vast dome of this lofty pile, which had long threatened the overthrow of the structure were replaced, and the tottering foundations rendered perfect and solid.

_The Hotel Dieu._

The whole facade of this immense Hospital was reconstructed.

_The Ca.n.a.l de L'Ourcq._

This grand undertaking was rendered navigable, and the basin, sluices, &c. completely finished.

THE NAPOLEON MEDALS.

Of the numerous means employed to commemorate the achievements of Napoleon, the public buildings and monuments of France bear ample witness. Indeed, Bonaparte's name and fame are so engrafted with the arts and literature of France, that it would be impossible for the government to erase the estimation in which he is held by the French people.

_A series of medals in bronze_, nearly one hundred and thirty in number, struck at different epochs of his career, exist, each in celebration of the prowess of the French army, or of some great act of his government: a victory, a successful expedition, the conquest of a nation, the establishment of a new state, the elevation of some of his family, or his own personal aggrandizement.

The medal commemorative of the _battle of Marengo_ bears, on one side, a large bunch of keys, environed by two laurel branches; and, on the reverse, Bonaparte, as a winged genius, standing on a dismounted cannon to which four horses are attached upon the summit of Mount St. Bernard, urges their rapid speed, with a laurel branch in one hand, whilst he directs the reins with the other.

That on the _peace of Luneville_ is two inches and a quarter in diameter, with the head of the first consul in uncommonly bold relief; the device, as mentioned in another place, is the sun arising in splendor upon that part of the globe which represents France, and which is overshadowed by laurels, whilst a cloud descends and obscures Great Britain.

The commencement of hostilities by England, after the _peace of Amiens_, is designated by the English leopard tearing a scroll, with the inscription, _Le Traite d'Amiens Rompu par l'Angleterre en Mai de l'An_ 1803; on the reverse, a winged female figure in breathless haste forcing on a horse at full speed, and holding a laurel crown, inscribed, _L'Hanovre occupe var l'Armee Francaise en Juin de l'An_ 1803; and beneath, _Frappee avec l'Argent des Mines d'Hanovre, l'An 4 de Bonaparte_.

His medal, on a.s.suming 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 surpa.s.sed 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 a Rome, retablie et augmentee 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, _Cambaceres second consul, le Brun troisieme consul de la republique Francaise_; on the reverse, _Le peuple Francais a defenseurs, cette premiere pierre de la colonne nationale, posee 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 Francois 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 ill.u.s.trious 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 Sevres, near Paris, a manufactory is carried on, which produces the beautiful porcelain, commonly called Sevres, 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 princ.i.p.al ornament of the gallery at St. Cloud. These were made at Sevres, 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 princ.i.p.alities, 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 a.s.surances 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.