Napoleonic Wars - Tumblr Posts

The session of plenipotentiaries that never happened,

Or The tale of how I rediscovered that one lithography of Isabey’s famous painting in extremely high resolution and went through a total recall, so that everybody could suffer (myself including) ⭐️

The arrival of the Duke of Wellington had not only affected Vienna's diplomatic activity and social calendar; it was also posing a problem to the painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey, who was trying to capture the congress on canvas. He had been working for some time, and he had finally found a way to balance all the strong personalities, many of them patrons, into one single painting, and yet not offend national sensibilities or fragile egos.

The painting, which depicted the delegates gathered in a conference room, turned out to be a compromise in the best spirit of Vienna diplomacy.

Metternich, the president of the Congress, draws the eye, as the only standing figure in the foreground.

Castlereagh, though, commands the center, sitting with his legs gracefully crossed and elbow resting on the table.

The light shining through the window, however, falls onto Talleyrand, sitting across the table with his dress sword at his side. An empty chair on both his right and left make him further stand out, as do the nearby figures who look to him, just as many of the smaller powers had sought his leadership the last few months.

As Isabey was putting the finishing touches to his composition, he had to figure out what to do about the fact that the Duke of Wellington was now also in town. Starting over was out of the question. Omitting a man of his stature was equally impossible. Yet it was not easy to incorporate him into a canvas on which all the best places had already been taken. The painter's solution was simple and elegant: why not make the painting commemorate the Duke of Wellington's arrival in Vienna?

That way, the duke could simply be inserted on the far left side of the painting, without any insult to his position. As for the duke's reluctance to be painted from a side angle (he was self-conscious about his nose), Isabey had overcome that with a well-targeted compliment: didn't Wellington look like the handsome and chivalric Henry IV? Pleased with this comparison, Wellington accepted, joking that Isabey was a "good enough diplomat to take part in the Congress".

The painter also had to apply his finesse to convince Humboldt to enter the studio. The Prussian ambassador hated to have his portrait made, and, sure enough, he first declined, claiming that he had "too ugly a face ever to spend a penny" on a portrait. With this statement, Isabey saw his opportunity and emphasized that he would not "ask the slightest recompense for the pleasant trouble I am going to take". Isabey only wanted "the favor of a few sittings".

"Oh, is that all?" Humboldt quickly came around when he realized it would not cost him anything. "You can have as many sittings as you like".

Later, many congratulated Isabey on his portrait, particularly the fine job with Humboldt. The Prussian did not pay anything, as agreed, and Isabey got his revenge, Humboldt joked, by painting "an excellent likeness of me".

Few could complain of the treatment received from Isabey's flattering brush. This famous painting of the Congress of Vienna was pleasing to all, though typical of this peace conference, the scene was purely imaginary. The group of twenty-three delegates had never met in exactly this way before. Isabey had painted the portraits of each figure individually, and then later assembled the whole group together.

And so, symbolically, this simulated image would commemorate a congress that never was.

After that spectacular depiction of historical context surrounding Isabey’s magnificent canvas by David King few things are left to be added. I would simply love to highlight some other figures of utmost importance for the diplomatic life of that illustrious historical period - there are

Karl August von Hardenberg, Prime Minister of Prussia at the time;

Herren Wacken and Friedrich von Gentz, two Secretaries who were responsible for the protocols of the most important Congress' meetings;

count Karl Vasilyevich Nesselrode, a Russian-German diplomat, who became state chancellor of the Russian Empire in 1816;

prince Andrey (Andrew) Kirillovich Razumovsky, an extremely wealthy Russian aristocrat and diplomat, for whom Vienna was like his second home;

and we shouldn’t (or rather can’t) forget about general Charles Stewart-Vane, Castlereagh’s younger brother who definitely knew how to throw an unforgettable party, so refined aristocratic society could discuss his wild adventures at their fashionable salon meetings day and night. ✨

P.S.

Perhaps, there should be more posts with other details of the lithograph as well as Isabey’s original canvas, I’ll just need some time and motivation for that. 👌

Oh, I wanted to read this book one day, naturally, but it seems I’m good without it for now! 😂

I’ve still got plenty of other sources and materials to go through (besides, right now I’m more focused on reading classical literature, since I haven’t had an urge this strong in a long time), so yeeeeah.

However, it would be fun to make full-length reviews on some history books in the future, if I’m able to!

Especially books of that kind. ;)

My newest read. @count-lero, are you familiar with this one?

So, there’s this massive reenactment event in Moscow which took place for the first time in late 2010s and grew into something incredibly spectacular over the years. The name of the festival roughly translates to “Times and Epochs” and it’s during these five or six days that citizens and guests of the capital are able to freely observe soldiers of the Ancient Rome marching through the streets, ladies and gentlemen from the galant 18th century taking strolls in the picturesque alleys, huge bivouacs of all nations and time periods imaginable placed in various parks as well as many other fascinating quests and festivities. 🏛️

Me and my friends are always excited for this remarkable event, even when we don’t participate in it as reenactors. Because sometimes it’s just great to take our time and look at other wonderful people enjoying themselves, while they help others learn a bunch of interesting, important, tragic things about the history of humankind.

The photos here depict only the tiniest part of all beauty and dedication shown by hundreds and thousands of people who spend immense amounts of time, effort and money to make such magnificent events a reality. :) ❤️

Blücher: Name one bad decision I’ve made in the past week. Schwarzenberg: Would you like the list to be organized by date, location or amount of people injured?

Pride Month is inevitably coming to an end and it’s a real shame that I was unable to make any artistic input during this wonderful time of the year. 🏳️‍🌈

The only thing I can contribute at last is this drawing which is three months old already but I always struggle with sharing historical ship-content on this account, as it seems inappropriate in a way. 'Cause you know: all the fascinating/gorgeous/serious/funny historical stuff and then that…

It doesn’t really stop me from loving various Napoleonic rare-pairs with all my heart nonetheless. 😔🤲❤️

Disclaimer: Most of historical characters featured on such arts were undoubtedly straight, had wives, kids, mistresses, etc. But ship-dynamic is very real - as always. ✨

I really ship it

I am very inspired by their hatred and respect for each other 🙏🏻

Good time of day to you, ladies and gentlemen!

So, I made a promise in April that I never kept because of how insecure I felt about it for a long period of time. However, now I’m more than knowledgeable in terms of the subject and ready to full fill with immense pleasure that old pledge of mine. ✨

This post is dedicated to @microcosme11 and @usergreenpixel, since you’ve shown great interest in my proposition in the first place. :)

It all started with the discovery of a film “Hundert Tage” released in the year 1935. Its name speaks for itself as the movie covers Napoleon’s famous return from Elba in 1815 up to the battle of Waterloo. What’s fairly surprising is that Joseph Fouché, notorious ex-minister of police with many other regalia earned through the years of serving many masters, played a significant role in the plot (as he did in real life), despite usually having a somewhat ghostly presence in other pieces of Napoleonic media. In the “Hundert Tage” he is more than an active political player portrayed by Gustaf Gründgens, prominent German theater and film actor with his background being too controversial to ever make a non-biased sense of…

Anyhow, the thing is: the impersonation of Fouché wasn’t the first “Napoleonic” role Gründgens ever tried on during his artistic career. Exactly a year before that another film of Austrian (!) production was made where he starred in a role which suits his appearance and play style so well that I’m still blown away by such an impeccable choice.

The original title of the film is “So Endete eine Liebe” (1934) and it deals with the tragic story of erzherzogin Marie Louise, future wife of emperor Napoleon, being separated from her true love for the sake of an advantageous marriage and political alliance. The film cast is mainly Austro-German with two leading performers being Willi Forst, one of the most prominent Austrian actors in the 20th century, playing archduke Franz von Modena, and fore mentioned Gustaf Gründgens, an actor who was also born in the Westphalian region of Germany, playing… Klemens von Metternich in all his mischievous glory. 💅✨

The film itself is not friendly to people who aren’t ready to face the complexity of Habsburg’s incest-flavoured dramas at their finest (I myself wasn’t aware of the infatuation that Marie-Louise had for her uncle, if it ever took place at all [and I’m too lazy to check any decent biography about her to find out what did happen exactly]). BUT, but Gründgens’ Metternich is something else.

With due awareness and respect. 🧎‍♂️

This role was made for him, no doubt: even the film and its actors show appreciation for his grace at the first opportunity given. 😁

Thank you so much for your commentary, @josefavomjaaga! 🙏

I see… The waring parties at Austrian court strike again!

Klemens used the trump card he thought out at the moment but his actions couldn’t have passed unnoticed by others, as they tried to prevent his “cruel deeds” from coming to life. X)

Good time of day to you, ladies and gentlemen!

So, I made a promise in April that I never kept because of how insecure I felt about it for a long period of time. However, now I’m more than knowledgeable in terms of the subject and ready to full fill with immense pleasure that old pledge of mine. ✨

This post is dedicated to @microcosme11 and @usergreenpixel, since you’ve shown great interest in my proposition in the first place. :)

It all started with the discovery of a film “Hundert Tage” released in the year 1935. Its name speaks for itself as the movie covers Napoleon’s famous return from Elba in 1815 up to the battle of Waterloo. What’s fairly surprising is that Joseph Fouché, notorious ex-minister of police with many other regalia earned through the years of serving many masters, played a significant role in the plot (as he did in real life), despite usually having a somewhat ghostly presence in other pieces of Napoleonic media. In the “Hundert Tage” he is more than an active political player portrayed by Gustaf Gründgens, prominent German theater and film actor with his background being too controversial to ever make a non-biased sense of…

Anyhow, the thing is: the impersonation of Fouché wasn’t the first “Napoleonic” role Gründgens ever tried on during his artistic career. Exactly a year before that another film of Austrian (!) production was made where he starred in a role which suits his appearance and play style so well that I’m still blown away by such an impeccable choice.

The original title of the film is “So Endete eine Liebe” (1934) and it deals with the tragic story of erzherzogin Marie Louise, future wife of emperor Napoleon, being separated from her true love for the sake of an advantageous marriage and political alliance. The film cast is mainly Austro-German with two leading performers being Willi Forst, one of the most prominent Austrian actors in the 20th century, playing archduke Franz von Modena, and fore mentioned Gustaf Gründgens, an actor who was also born in the Westphalian region of Germany, playing… Klemens von Metternich in all his mischievous glory. 💅✨

The film itself is not friendly to people who aren’t ready to face the complexity of Habsburg’s incest-flavoured dramas at their finest (I myself wasn’t aware of the infatuation that Marie-Louise had for her uncle, if it ever took place at all [and I’m too lazy to check any decent biography about her to find out what did happen exactly]). BUT, but Gründgens’ Metternich is something else.

With due awareness and respect. 🧎‍♂️

This role was made for him, no doubt: even the film and its actors show appreciation for his grace at the first opportunity given. 😁

Grandpa’s gift

There is an incredibly fascinating artistic detail that haunts me after some person posted their astute observations on the Internet and I would love to share it with you!

So, we have this illustration from a book “Life of Napoleon Bonaparte” by William Milligan Sloane (1896). Here we can see Napoleon visiting his son in a timeframe close to spring of 1813, when it became obvious that his larger political allies proved to be good for nothing and were probably going to leave him soon. Napoleon is shown deep in his thoughts holding a hand of his beloved son and looking at something far beyond our reach…

Or is he?

Speculations can be made that he actually has his attention on the toy soldiers present in a foreground of the picture.

While a cannon can be more than rightfully considered Napoleon’s own symbol, these toy soldiers do not represent any French troops. It’s possible to discern their tall hats but those are not bear hats of the Old guard, for sure.

They probably are the hats of Imperial (Austrian) grenadiers from the period of the Revolutionary wars. You can even notice red lining and cuffs being parts of their snowy-white coats.

Even if it was somewhat of a tradition to gift toy soldiers representing military units of relatively “old times”, an air of symbolism may also surround such a choice of troops. You know, that symbolism straight from those times when Imperial forces hadn’t yet suffered critical blows from the renewed French army and thought of themselves as fighters for truth and Habsburg’s justice.

So yeah. What a meaningful gift from a caring grandfather to his grandson it could be~ 🤭

(I’m also able to imagine how prince Schwarzenberg himself could have delivered this exact gift to Marie Louise, when he came to Paris as a diplomat once more and it literally gives me goose bumps. I love such small but significant imaginary plots with all my heart. ❤️)

So, it was my birthday yesterday but I had no time to go on the Internet due to having too much fun. Still I’d appreciate reposts of some of my most favourite artwork as I am a drawing person after all. :)

I don’t finish as much pieces as I once could, yet the process is always captivating. ❤️

Wow, people are really talking about all of Metternich’s love affairs, haha!

It seems, this topic tends to reoccur once in a while and it’s quite fascinating to observe, what others have to say or create based on the subject. Such as excellent memes! 😁

*Laure and Jean-Andoche Junot definitely have to make an appearance as well ✨*

This needed to be done after the very nice conversation about Bagration I had with @galakteon and @peachboy0101001

Something’s cooking - slowly but surely. ✨

Farewell to the Dnieper

Annual visit to the Borodino field was quite pleasant this year because of extremely mild weather - with the sole exception of a day, when it was raining cats and dogs…

However, unfortunate circumstances sometimes have a bright side too. In this case the rain in the afternoon caused thick fog to appear at dusk which turned the whole landscape into a majestic dream. 🌅

Some more Borodino photos (and a video) I managed to sort out. ❤️💙

The latest reenactment also granted me a gift by the hands of an exceptionally talented person who made wonderful photos of me in the “historical” garments I wear at events as such.

I’m definitely not a big fan of military life-style and discipline in an actual reenactment camp. And since there aren’t much people in civilian attires from the respective time period (they are present nonetheless), I’m glad to participate and fill up the ranks! 🎩

Unfortunately, sewing skills were never my forte, so the most important pieces of the attire were made by a professional seamstress who has a lot of experience in historical clothings. The garments aren’t perfect - far from it: I myself couldn’t properly track all the things that had to be done or mended, so it is what it is. But the colours I chose seem not bad at all. 💙🩷

(And yes, when it came to camera angles, we took direct inspiration from Caspar David Friedrich - how could we not, when the scenery was perfect for that!)

***

There’re also these close-up photos I took spontaneously which I really like despite them being a bit messy and imperfect.

What a shame for a proper Austrian gentleman on duty among the French troops! 🤫

disfunctional coalitions and sad girls or smth

Eu va dau frame urile voi le animati

also yes it's related to the red flags animation and yes these guys are napoleon and alexander i again how smart am i frate deci jurati-va ca ati mai vazut asa cv

ALL MY SILLY NAPOLEONIC FANARTS ARE HERE!

NA NA NA NA NA!

Here is a self-presentation with KONATApoleon tapping your screen:

My art-posting ID is RMslighter, you can call me RM. I'm Chinese and I live in Tianjin, the finest funniest city in China. I speak Mandarin, English and French, although I still need to practice more.

I make fanarts of Napoleonic wars, most of them are silly parodies of anime/manga/vocaloid/video game characters. (Someday I may share my original works, but not now)

IF YOU WANT TO USE MY ARTS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW by leaving a message. Your words will be a huge encouragement to me and can help me build confidence.

(｡>∀<｡) Other informations:

(/≧▽≦)/~ I love cats, delicious food and magical girls (transforming heroines).

ヽ(#`Д´)ノOn the contary, I hate dogs, drugs (including cigarette) and politic.

Hope my works can make you smile and light up your day (∗❛ั∀❛ั∗)✧* !