The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-09-28
nAPoleon.s PORTRAIT.
Ills Own Words to David. the Artist, yTh
Painted His PIctnre.

Ills Own Words to David. the Artist, yTho
Painted His RIctnre.
When David was commissioned to
paint his picture of Napoleon crossing
the Alps he asked the First Consul 70
name dav when he would sit ISL" /"
said BonapaEte; ito what goodP Do
you suppose the great men of anti
putty sat for their portraits?n But I
paint you for your own times. for men
who have known and seen you; they
expect good likeness" "A good
likenessI II is not the exactitude Of
the features. the little wart on the
nose. that makes a likeness. What
ought to be painted is the charactt of
the pliysiognomy. No one inquiries if
the portraits of great men are alike; il
Is quite enough if they manifest their
gefius." This story shows how early
the purpose was formed in Bonaparte.
mind TO render himself the subject Of
4 myth. and to this end he sought to
employ poets as well as painters. II
was totally unnecessary; for his aSpfr-
alton in Italy. in 1900. was in Itself
quite sufficient to render HIM legend
airy hero. A Young man of austrre
manners. ascetic appearance. with the
| head and face Of an ideal Cesar. say
ing little but doing much. deferred by
no scruplc and by no obstacle, leading
| his dazed and fascinated army from
Turin to Milan. from Milan to Verona
from Verona to Venice, he could not
fail to arouse the imagination of friend
and foe. Portraits more evidently
mythical were not slow TO : as1-
pear, sometimes accompanied By
enthusiastic verses. Bonaparte ca
reeTing through Italy on a flying
steed. with Fame blowing trumpet
and holding in readiness the palm of
victory. well expressed the popular
/ idea of the hero of ArcoIa- But foreign
nations were not thus fascinated. To
! England especially he was becoming 4
terror and danger. His portraiture
Mt this time was chiefly in the hands OF
the caricaturists, and it is curious b
notice how difficult they found the ef-
/ fort to make it ludierous and ugly.
RowlandsoE,s First Consul with his
powdered hair. his feeble face, stiff
eraYat, cambric-tipped. long red man
/ tie, short frock, tri-colored scarf and
| brigaBd hat surmounted with tTi-
eolored plume. must have appeared to
our grandfathers ike some Twelfth
Night character. But GiIIray, with
better art, really gave the public some
thing like resemblance of Bonayaarte-
Not nlueh, however. coulI be done he
yond rendering his thin features ex-
eessivelv gaunt and grim. and repre-
senting his height as Lillipntian.
Little Bouncing b. or Little
Boney.'' was Johnny Bulls good
hEmored notion concerning the man
who over the water took such gigantic
proportions. The English carieaturists
conceived him as an iron-hearted honi-
eide, capable. when needful. of being
most insinnating and plausible. Their
rortraiture has all the character of a
popular myth. profoundly true in it.
self. but singuIarly coarse and brutal.
handled after their own manner. In
enc OF Gillray's designs we get Bona
parties portrait rendered as hang-dog
and felonious as possible in the midst
of all kinds of embienls intended TO
set forth the popular English notion
of republican France Around the
portrait are written the words. And
. God made Bonaparte and rested from
His labors. ''-lucgHzifze Of Art.