688. François Rude (1784-1855), French,

Napoleon Reawakening to Immortality, 1845-1847.

Bronze, Length: 251.5 cm. Parc Noisot, Fixin. Romanticism.

 

 

Captain Noisot, a former soldier of the Empire, having retired to Burgundy, commissioned a monument to the glory of his hero, whose ashes had been brought back from Saint-Helena in 1840. The title chosen for this tribute to the deposed emperor is, in addition to the workmanship of the piece, a true testimony to the Romantic movement, of which Rude is the greatest sculptor. It is in death that the artist chose to represent the awakening of the departed. Draped in a shroud, eyes closed and with a peaceful face, Napoleon seems to breathe his last breath in front of our eyes. A symbol of power, the eagle lying next to him accentuates the Romanticism of the work. Nevertheless, under a July Monarchy that did not hesitate to use censorship, the features of the exiled emperor are rejuvenated to be closer to those of the General or of the First Consul Bonaparte.