The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-06-26
A microscopic PAINTER.
The 1zs6hO& and PFeefzIon SEash which
MefazOBfer WORKS.
y

4. 7. Sun,
Americans are well Acquainted with
MeissOnier's g 1907" for which the late
A. 7. Stewart paid $50, goo. Meissonier
worked fifteen years on this painting, q
fact which will be readily believed
when his manner of painting is known.
Whatever be its size, every figure he
paints Is the object of & special study
The arm of the colonel of the cursssiers
in IS 1907 was the subject of q series of
studies, each one of which is an admir-
able bit of painting; the arm was not
decided upon until after he tried seven
seen different positions, and had wit
messed score of charges of cavalry. No
detail was put on canvas that had not
been repeatedly examined, so that the
picture represents over two hundred
preliminary pictures. AS there was q
disagreement between two veterans
about the color of the collar of the
uniform worn by e certain regiment, he
spent week In various libraries in order
to gather evidence about the subject, and
undertook q journey to Bordeaux to con-
suit veteran surviving member of the
regiment.
One can not imagine how much pains
his "1814," or the Retreat from Mos
cow" as it is otherwise called, cost him.
In q biting cold winter day the writer
had gone to POissY together with the
celebrated art critic, Paul BuTty. It
| was showing, and there was q foot
snow on the ground. We found Meisso-
nier on the turret of his chalet, seated
| in the war costume of Napoleon l., on q
stuffed gray horse, and painting the fig
ure OF the emperor as it was rendered by
| a large mirror that stood at some dis.
tance from him. He had been there
| three hours, unmindtul of the cold, and
was perfectly happy, as he said, because
| he had found the sinister tones of Rus
sian landscape. Paul BurtY ventured to
remark that as he had already finished
painting the landscape, he might with
draw and continue his work in the
studio, without exposing himself to the
same disaster that overlook the "Great
Army" How could I obtain in the
studio" Meissonier quite excitedly re-
Joined, 1.-THE right tone and the true
effect Of Napoleon's gray coat in harmo-
nieus contrast with the sober grays of
the sky and the snowy carpet of the
ground, and the just value of the flesh
tones of the emperor's countenance,
darkened by the dull atmosphere of a
WintTy sky ?" 1t was there, on the top
OF that tuTret, that he completed what is
perhaps his masterpiece.
About month later the writer found
Meissonier in his studio scraping the
same figure of Napoleon, to paint which
he had endured so many hours of freez-
ing temperature "What on earth are
you doing now7" I asked, almost bewil-
dered. Gan, old servant of the emperor
has been here," Meissonier replied,
"who was with him in Russia He had
tears in his eyes and spent good hour
in silent contemplation before my pic
! ture. After / had coaxed him for a long
while to tell me whether he found any
thing inexact in the canvas, the good
old man finally said: During the CAM
paign of Russia his msjesty wore the
uniform of the Chasseurs, not that OF the
grenadiers. Moreover, his majesty never
consented to have his epsulettes unfas-
tened rom his tunic. That will explain
to you why the armholes of his overcoat
were so large I had painted Napoleon
i'll the uniform of the grenadiers and
with the epaulettes outside of his coat
How could l help doing what an now
doing ?" Thus, love of truth overbal.
aneed all other considerations, and Meis
sOnier began studying anew the uniform
OF the chasseurs, the effect produced by
the epaulettes under the overcoat and 81
on, until he obtained the same perfection
he had reached in the accessories of hi
previous portrait.