Thought you might be interested in how the iconic portraits of Napoleon – by Ingres, David, Gros and others – almost all resemble the artist’s self-portrait. These are not portraits of Napoleon, as most scholars imagine, but portraits of the artist-as-Napoleon, as a few alert viewers at the time did recognize. Take a look at the comparisons on my website:
http://www.artscholar.org

They are really quite fascinating! I think there might be a whole episode of the podcast on the portraits, something we should do sometime. Thanks Simon!

Thanks Edna!

Monsieur Reilly,

I recently discovered that I could acquire high resolution images of
various artworks from Artstor.org. Considering my love of Napoleonic
imagery I could hardly resist finding myself a detailed scan of
Napoleon at the Bridge of Arcole. I trudged through the laborious task
of zooming in and saving high-resolution samples, then followed
reconstructing the 43 images into a perfectly aligned, high-definition
Jpeg file.

The scan is 2917 X 4187 pixel; 30.38 X 43.61 Inch

A store near my house will take images and mount then onto a fake
canvas. I’ve done this with other posters and images and they look
very nice. I am sure there are places down under that do the same.
I would like to share the image so that you – or anyone on Napoleon101 -
could have a copy or, if one is like me, print it out. Such a
masterpiece of Bonaparte propaganda is too difficult to hold to
myself.

-John Holloway

Thanks John! Everyone can download the high res version from my server here.

“At length, after a career of insolent pretensions on one hand, and of strange and ungovernable curiosity on the other, the departure of this disturber of the world has taken place.”

Foreign Intelligence Page 1
Foreign Intelligence Page 2

Do you think a fan of The Emperor owns this Brisbane Benz I spotted yesterday?

As Nicholas Stark pointed out in the comments to the last show, December 2 was the 204th anniversary of Napoleon and Josephine’s coronation. I hope you all raised a glass of your finest medication in his honour. I did!

Well a photo I took of Napoleon’s tomb in Paris back in 2004 has been selected for the Schmap Paris Guide! Check the link below.

PS… a new show coming this week… we promise!!!!

Link – Nicholas Stark’s Weblog

Hey folks! Well I’m back in Australia after an AMAZING two weeks in France. The above photos, and a number of others you can find in the Napoleon 101 Flickr Group, was taken by our new friend Nicholas Stark, a 17 year-old student from the US who joined us for a couple of days in Paris.

On July 14, Bastille Day, we shot some video at Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe and Les Invalides. David provided some commentary of Napoleon’s tomb, the Arc, and various Napoleonic paintings and exhibits at The Louvre. This video, along with the audio and video recordings from the INS congress at Ajaccio, will be available on the DVD pack I’ll be putting out asap.

By the way, in the Flickr Group you’ll see a couple of photos taken at Changi Airport (Singapore) of the Legion Of Merit medal I was presented with, by David, at the Gala Dinner at the end of the Congress. It was a great honour and something every button pusher aspires to. David was also presented with the Medal Of The City Of Ajaccio by the Mayor of Ajaccio during a cocktail reception held at their city hall, beneath an original painting of Napoleon in his ceremonial robes from the coronation. There will be photos of that, and much much more, going up in the Flickr group over the next week or so, so keep an eye out.

Listener Tim O’Dwyer from Australia, who describes himself as “an old Aussie lawyer (who believes he could do a good plea of guilty for Prince Talleyrand)”, recently visited France and Israel with his wife and submitted some Napoleonis snaps from his visits to Malmaison and Jaffa. See more in the Napoleon 101 Flickr group. Thanks Tim!

Paris 2008 Map

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly

Some of the places I’m visiting (and staying) on my trip to Paris in July. If you want to open it in Google Maps, use this link.

To my surprise, at the Benalla and District Historical Society, I discovered this display. It is, apparently, one of the drums used by the Dutch forces at Waterloo and was handed down to a local family.

Napoleon Gance Poster (2)

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly

Isn’t David Markham the bomb!?! He sent me this marvelous, fully framed and original poster from the 1980 restoration of Abel Gance’s 1927 silent epic “Napoleon”. I love it. This is going in the pool room. Thank you David-san!

Napoleon

Originally uploaded by jables80.

Waterloo Battlefield just outside of Waterloo, Belgium.

“Maybe I missed this aspect of Napoleon already mentioned in one of your episode, but if you didn’t, could talk a little bit about that distinct hat Napoleon is often shown with on pictures of him. Maybe it is a modern invention and has nothing to do with the historical figure.”

Actually, Pascal, the kind of hat Napoleon wore was fairly common with European and American military and naval officers in the 18th and 19th century and it’s called a bicorne or bicorn. It was actually based on the tricorne which was popular in the 17th century. Much like the famous “hand inside jacket” pose, Napoleon wasn’t unique, it’s just that his celebrity status, then and now, makes most of us associate him with such images.

Here’s a photo of one of Napoleon’s actual hats that he wore in 1799, the year he became a Consul.

You can read more about the bicorn’s history here. Thanks for the question Pascal!

And goodbye, Napoleon’s house

Originally uploaded by bootsintheoven.

Statue de Napoleon

Originally uploaded by shandara.

dangerous position

Originally uploaded by omnia_mutantur.

Napoleon

Originally uploaded by shandara.

Dear Cameron and David,

My name is Gavin O’Sullivan.
I’m a letter-carrier living in Vancouver B.C., and around xmas time i picked up the lovely little invention called an ipod.
I must say it entertains me through the day whether listening to songs, books, or podcasts…….which brings me to your Napoleon Podcast.

As mentioned by you Cameron, growing up in a commonwealth country my knowledge of Napoleon was that he was a “tyrant”, or a “little Hitler”.
How my knowledge has grown with the help of your podcast.

I’ve always been interested in military history whether it be the American Civil war, Vietnam conflict, Roman , or WW1, WW2.
My parents grew up in London, England and lived through the blitz. so in some way my interest in human conflict had been instilled.

Your podcasts have entertained, intrigued, and informed me.
I truly feel that you guys are like my old buddies when i listen for your obvious enthusiasm, and friendship comes through in spades.
Even the episode when you guys finally met was brilliant, where i tend to think David’s supply of olde medicine was opened with a fervor.

So around your your 15th 16th podcast, i was at a thrift store mucking around for odds and sods, when in the corner of my eye i spot this huge pic of Mr. Bonaparte.
So after haggling down to a $4.00…..price tag…..i walked out of there with a wicked poster of Napolean which is now up in my living room.(see attached pic)

I do truly look forward to your next podcast, and i am spreading the word as much as I can.
I would help you guys out anyway i can, and think that podcasts will only grow with mates such as you blabbering about on the airwaves……haha.
My vote for your next one would be a Ceasar. or American Civil War.

Keep up the good work,

your fan

Gavin

Nice haggling Gavin! How about you come over here when I attend my next house auction?

Please keep sending us your Napoleon stories folks! After sitting here getting inspired in solitude by Napoleonic stories over the years, I’m really thrilled to see this show helping others find a passion for the subject.

Dies Irae

Originally uploaded by Manuperez.

Napoleon statue @ Il Duce

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly.

Cameron, Barbara, David

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly.

Cameron & David 2

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly.

Here’s a snap of David and I after our recording session in San Francisco, November 2006.

Originally uploaded by OllieD.

Romeo, Juliette and Napoleon

Originally uploaded by Arnold Pouteau’s.

Cherbourg02.JPG

Originally uploaded by aurensfromarabia.

Cherbourg-Octeville is a town and commune in Normandy, north-west France.

David and I will be recording a new episode next week folks, so please stay tuned! We will be covering the tentative peace Napoleon signed with England known as the Treaty of Amiens, how it all fell apart, and why Napoleon developed The Continental System.

Belle Alliance II

Originally uploaded by hotnacho.

Monument Memorial where Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo.
Legend has it that the Lion was cast from the bronze of the weapons the French left behind on the battlefield.
The tungsten lights that form the orange glow are from a highway.
Mont St. Jean / Waterloo, Belgium

Originally uploaded by batgirlsuz.

Imagine how the simple grey redingcote and unadorned black bicorne, with the relatively modest dark green coat of the undress of a mere Colonel of the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Guard, made the Emperor stand out against the gold embroidery and swans feathers of his marshals, or the overblown flamboyance of Murat.
(quote from Ancient Rome Forums)

Hsinchu · Guqifeng

Originally uploaded by jlin45d.

Oh this is a classic!

Les Invalides

Originally uploaded by cbonney.

DSC07580

Originally uploaded by Guillaume Laforge.

I’ve been here. Terrific experience. I highly recommend it if you’re going to Paris. It’s out in the ‘burbs, a few bus trips out of the CBD, but amazing to walk the halls and grounds of La Malmaison and think about what took place there.

Originally uploaded by Antoon’s Foobar.

Originally uploaded by syrtveit.

Originally uploaded by limvirak.

Originally uploaded by olia717.

Originally uploaded by philippe brevet.

Originally uploaded by mfdudu.

Napoleonic Code

Originally uploaded by baralbion.

Where Napoleon was wounded Regensburg

Originally uploaded by orclimber.

Emperor of all he surveys

Originally uploaded by Tampen.

I Napoleon

Originally uploaded by Zoe_S.