catalog text
VINCENZO VELA
Italian/Swiss, 1820-1891
"Last Days of Napoleon" (1867)
Patinated bronze | engraved to front edge "V. VELA F. 1867", engraved to reverse edge "F. BARBEDIENNE, Fondeur", A. Collas cachet to base, underneath with foundry notations "111+ X" | cast circa 1890
Item # 304LTR30P
A very fine late 19th century casting by the Ferdinand Barbedienne foundry of Vincenzo Vela's statue "Last Days of Napoleon" executed in patinated bronze. The subject is described contemporarily in a moving write-up by William Macleod, curator of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in their 1882 catalogue where he writes:
"This sublime statue is justly considered among the greatest sculptural works of modern times. It was executed for Mr J. Taylor Johnston of New York at the sale of whose collection it was bought for this Gallery. It is a replica of the statue made in 1866 and bought by Napoleon III from the French International Exhibition in 1867 and is now at Versailles There is some difference in the heads of the two statues but none changing the character and sentiment of the work. Vela as a Swiss has followed his profession in Florence and Milan but now resides at Ligernetto Canton of Tisson. He is about 50 years old and a Republican.
Napoleon is seated in a chair supported by a pillow a blanket covers his body and legs, but his dressing gown partly open shows his massive but wasted chest. His right hand rests languidly on an arm of the chair his left nervously clutched rests on a map of Europe of 1814 spread on his lap, that Europe whose boundary lines he had so often altered and obliterated. His head droops forward and there is an awful speculation in the glazed depths of the eyes that gaze earnestly from beneath the classic brow as though peering into futurity. An indomitable spirit lives in the compressed lips and the thin nostrils breathe the scorn of a conqueror though now yielding to the spell of the last conqueror, death. Neither David's Crossing the Alps nor De la Roche's Fontainebleau in their personations of the Successful General and the Fallen Emperor stir the heart so deeply as this pathetic image of the dying Imperial Captive”
The present example is one of two slightly varied versions of this sculpture, both documented in Michael Forrest’s reference work. It was cast by the foundry of Ferdinand Barbedienne and is noted such with the base edge neatly incised “F. BARBEDIENNE, Foundeur”; the standard A. Collas reduction cachet is impressed into the back corner of the base. Note the exquisite detail captured from the mold, the texture throughout the skin of his face, the full replication of the intricate bas-relief detailing of his garment and the pillow under his feet as well as the full development of the map in his hands. This is the 11" model, the same dimension as the example held in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (acc. no. 1979-187-2)
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- Sotheby’s, 28 June 2007, 16 1/2” H model by Barbedienne achieved 22,800 GBP
- University of Chicago Smart Museum of Art, acc. no. 1976.74, 16 1/2” H model
- Christie’s Sydney, 15-16 May 2004, The John Schaeffer Collection, 45 cm, unknown foundry, lot 255, achieved AUD 11,950
- "Art Bronzes", Michael Forrest, 1988, p. 84-85, f. 2.184 & 2.185
Measurements: 11" H x 6 1/4" D x 10 1/8" W
Condition Report:
Trace wear to the original patina throughout commensurate with age and handling over time. Some wear and abrasion to the base. A very fine presentation.