Artiste(s):

unknown maker

Titre anglais composé:

The Emperor arrives at Augsburg.

Titre inscrit:

L'EMPEREUR ARRIVE A AUSBOURG.

Inscription:

32

Description:

Napoleon on his white horse, rallies his troops outside the village of Augsburg. The French army had only days before been given the name of "La Grande Armée." Napoleon had led them across the Danube, the taking of Ulm was soon to follow. This gesture of oath-taking was revived during the Revolution, refering back to Roman antiquity. It became very popular with Napoleon, who had used it days after the Coronation in the Distribution des Aigles. The grenadiers enthusiastically express their love for and attachment to their emperor. Under the Empire, the oath was no longer to an ideal (e.g. the Revolution, or the Nation), but to an individiual, specifically to a military leader by the army : we never see an oath by the people to the leader of the nation. This perhaps shows the true nature of Napoleon's rule.

Sujet(s):

Oath-taking, before Augsburg (1808)

Cote:

DC151 S66 1837

Endroit supplémentaire:

opp. p. 122