Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1879-06-03
A Painstaking Painter.

Americans are well acquainted with
Meissonier's g 1907 for which the late
A. L. Stewart paid $4,000. Meissonier
worked fifteen years on this painting, a
fact which will be readily believed when
his manner Of painting is known. What
ever be its size. every figure he paints is
the object of a special study. The arm
of the colonel cf the cuirassiers in
1907" was the subject of a series of
studies, each one of which is an admira-
BILE bit of painting; the arm was not de-
cided upon until after he had tried sew
enteen different positions, and had wit
messed a score ef 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 a
disagreement between two veterans
about the color of the collar Of the uni
form worn by a certain regiment, he
spent a week in various libraries in
order to gather evidence about the sub
ject, and undertook a journey to Bor-
deaux to consult veteran surviving
member of the regiment.
One cannot imagine how much pains
his 1874" or the " Retreat from Mos
cow" as it is otherwise called. cost
him. In biting cold winter day the
writer had gone to Poissy together with
the celebrated art critic, Paul Burty
1t was showing, and there was foot Of
snow on the ground. We found Meis-
sonier on the turret Of his chalet, seated
in the war costume of Napoleon |, on a
stuffed gray horse, and painting the
figure of the emperor as it was rendered
by large mirror that stood at some dis
tance from him. He had been there
three hours, unmindful of the cold, and
was perfectly happy, as he said, because
he had found the sinister tones of the
Russian landscape Paul Burty ven
tured to remark that as he had already
finished painting the landscape, he
might withdraw and continue his work
in the studio, without exposing himself
to the disaster that overlook the = Great
Army" How could | obtain in the
studio" Meissonier quite excitedly re-
joined, " the right tone and the true effect
of Napoleon's gray coat in harmonious
contrast with the somber grays of the
sky and the snowy carpet on the ground,
and the just value Of the flesh tones Of
the emperors countenance, darkened by
the dull atmosphere Of a wintry sky2n
1t was there, on the top of that turret,
that he completed what is perhaps his
masterpiece.
About month later the writer found
Aeissonier in his studio scraping the
same figure of Napoleon, to paint which
he had endured SO many hours Of a
freezing temperature. What on earth
are you doing now? ?" / asked, almost be-
wildered. " An old servant of the en-
peror has been here, " Meissonier replied,
tswho was with him in Russia. He had
tears in his eyes, and spent q good hour
in silent contemplation before my pic
ture. After | had eoaxed him for a
long while to tell me whether he found
anything inexact in the canvas, the good
old man finally said: During the cam
paign of Russia his majesty wore the
uniform of the chasseurs, not that of the
grenadiers. Moreover, his majesty never
consented to have his epaulettes unfast-
ened from his tunie. That will explain
to you why the arm-holes of his over
coat were SO large | had painted Ma
poleon in the uniform of the grenadiers
and with the epaulettes outside of his
coat. How could | help doing what
am now doingPn Thus, love of truth
overbalanced all other considerations,
and Meissonier began studying anew the
uniform Of the chasseurs, the effect pro-
duced by the epaulettes under the over
coat and so on. until he had obtained the
same perfection he had reached in the
accessories of his previous portrait.