After All The Ball Resumes!

After all the ball resumes! 🥂

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Ahem, my bad, the Vienna Congress will be opened next year only!

Until then we’re stuck with an incredibly important meeting of prominent people which will eventually lead to an extraordinary outcome (especially if we remember all the past wars and their results which were rather… unfavourable for all the previous Coalitions and their paticipants).

And that’s why here comes

Part 2 of the main characters in the Kraft’s painting “Battle of Leipzig”

Let’s continue our small-talk with another representative of the general-headquarters, the most important one for sure - count Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, the chief-of-staff in the Bohemian army led by Schwarzenberg himself. Amongst his colleagues in the headquarters he probably had the most influence on the decisions made by Schwarzenberg and three allied monarchs themselves.

His placement in the painting illustrates this idea quite well! Even though at first sight he seems to be somewhat “lost” among the officers surrounding him, Radetzky is actually in the heart of a crowd probably listening to Gneisenau’s thoughts on the current state of affairs. 🗣

I also want to give another illustrative example of him wearing dark-green which, in my opinion, suits him very well. :)

It’s a much later artwork (the second half of the 19th century) created by another talented Austrian painter Carl von Blaas - a series of panels in the Ruhmeshalle (the Hall of Fame) which is located in the Museum of Military History in Vienna. There, on the walls from floor to ceiling are depicted the most important military victories in the history of Austria. This one in particular shows us the aftermath of a battle: kaiser Franz decorates the commander-in-chief of allied forces - Karl zu Schwarzenberg - with the Grand Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa. Right behind him stands Radetzky with his arms crossed on his chest.

Soooo serious and solemn! ✨

(One more off top since I simply can’t help myself… Like, OMG, Schwarzenberg looks so blissful in this picture. It’s literally heartwarming! 🤲🤲🤲)

All in all, there’re many representatives from different European countries making up the crowd behind three monarchs’ backs. I’m sure there must be some military men from those German states which after all decided to join the allied forces but I’m not competent enough to identify all of them… (Yet, hopefully! 😅)

But I can say for sure that at least two more men in the crowd (who are somewhat hiding behind other’s backs) are of a particular interest.

The first one has such striking appearance that it’s almost impossible to confuse him with anyone else. Say hello to Adam Albert von Neipperg, a military men, a diplomat and… a future husband of archduchess Marie Louise as she was never allowed to reunite with Napoleon after the victory of the allies.

What a surprise to see him out there!

By the way, nice eyepatch, my man. ✨

And next to him is Maximilian von Merveldt, a general who was unfortunate enough to be captured by Napoleon’s men during the first day of a battle…

Oops, that’s quite unpleasant. :(

After that he had to deliver Napoleon’s peace offering which was immediately rejected by allied monarchs since it was only the 16th of October and much more reinforcements were on their way to the battlefield. ✊

To be continued even 🔜 er

Pair drawings of Murat and Ney I made some time ago for myself and my dear friend @michel-feuilly ✨

They were born out of a spontaneous experiment with different brushes and I’m still very fond of the result. :)

You know, Russians don’t really love Georges d'Anthès for killing our famous poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. But that officer was a handsome one bastard as far as I can see)

Napoleonic personals because I am a horrible person.

Soooo in the next couple of days I would love to speak about how I got to the point where I am right now in the fandom! And first of all - about few historical characters who have been figuring in my drawings for almost a year and a half. :)

I guess that the most accurate way of describing my preferences would be

✨The squad of yearly 19th-century military men with huge sideburns✨

And here they are - from left to right (or should I say from top to bottom, ehem):

First and foremost, I should say couple of words about the man who had been my main inspiration for almost three year in a row - prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration, famous infantry general of the Russian Empire. 🇷🇺

Well… I love him with all of my heart! As a Russian who suddenly got into history of Napoleonic wars (and, actually, history in general even though it was not my cup of tea for the major part of my life) thanks to Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” which I read for our literature class in high school and was completely enchanted by it I had plenty of choices with whom I could start my journey.

And I chose… Alexander I.

Yep, I find it rather logical and still appreciate the role that he had played in getting me into the Napoleonic wars shenanigans (even though now I know so much about all of his downsides and unpleasant features of his character) but in the end Bagration means much more to me. 🌹

He was a wonderful warrior with a heart of a lion, a bit too hotheaded but righteous and fair till the very end. I find it fascinating how gracefully he managed to combine his own skills concerning the art of war with the habits of Russian imperial court. Even though he didn’t manage to maintain good relationships with tzar Alexander (oops, here goes Alexander’s pride and arrogance when it came to the military affairs) because of his own sense of right and wrong and his stubbornness (which, in my opinion, was completely justified by the situation in the battlefield) and was acting rather obstinately in the begging of the War of 1812, he got the glory and honour he deserved from his fellow generals and even the enemies of the empire. His unfortunate death is a real tragedy as many sources show that he could have been saved even with the poor medical sources of the time… But oh well. What happened, happened. 😔

Long story short, I think that Bagration was quite wholesome person and I’m happy to see that nowadays he still gets much recognition! 🎉

And the next one we haaaaaave… oh my, who could it be if not the one and only Joachim Murat, maréchal de France, Roi de Naples, in all of his shining glory! 🇫🇷✨

Won’t say much about him here (because it’s far too much for this poor post already 😅) only that this man fascinates me to the bottom of my heart! It’s always such a pleasure to learn something new about his adventures and the adventures of Napoleon’s maréchaux in general. Love them all very much!

Vive la France, vive la Révolution française et vive le Premier Empire surtout!~

…Okay, but also, like, Murat’s attitude to different things and events, his flamboyancy in clothing and his overall, er, sensibility helped me a lot with some deep struggles about my own identity and I will always be grateful to him for who he was. ❤️

The last but not the least is long-forgotten (even though now I find more than enough information about his life, character and deeds) but utterly sweet Fürst Karl Philipp zu Schwarzenberg, field marshal and experienced diplomat in service of the Holly Roman and then Austrian Empire. 🇦🇹

I’m certainly going to make a specific post about how did I end up with him, that one bloody devil Metternich (definitely heard about that guy somewhere) and my overall sudden boiling passion for the austrian history which grows stronger every day so I’m DEFINITELY not going to get into details this time, I swear!

…I only want to express my frustration: I was not smart enough few years ago and now have to study German language frantically. Mein Gott, it was a love from the first sight but that’s pretty tough nonetheless. One year of express self studying has passed and I hope it’s only a beginning!

P. S.

To sum it all up, I would like to state one last question.

On a scale from one to ten how ✨cringe✨ is it to aggressively simp for someone like Metternich? Because it must have been over half of a year by now and my concern is growing. 😂

An old sketch with Ney, which all these royal lilies and imperial bees did not allow to live in peace.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough knowledge of the English language to tell everything that I know about Ney and all the ideas that are associated with him, but I hope that one day I can do it and get at least a little recognition in fandom. 👉🏻👈🏻