The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Portrait of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French

1841

William Essex

(British, 1784–1869)

England, 19th century

enamel on copper, gilt metal and plush mount in a turned wood frame

Framed: 13.5 x 11.5 cm (5 5/16 x 4 1/2 in.); Unframed: 6.6 x 5 cm (2 5/8 x 1 15/16 in.)

Gift of Mabel Porozynski in honor and remembrance of Eugene Porozynski 2000.106

Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Napoleon wears the green uniform of the chasseurs á cheval, including a green coat with a red collar over a white waistcoat and gold epaulets indicating his status as a general.

Description

Unlike fragile portrait miniatures painted in watercolor on vellum or ivory, which are prone to cracking, fading, and flaking, enamels are resilient, impervious to the effects of light, and retain their striking original colors over time. Partly for this reason enamel was considered ideal for reproducing famous paintings and treasured portraits in a reduced and luminous form. The complicated and labor-intensive process of enameling required the artist to fire numerous layers of colored metal oxide at different temperatures. This process made it difficult to produce a faithful portrait likeness, though masters of the medium were able create portraits of remarkable subtlety imbued with the sitter's personality. The desire for portraits of Napoleon Bonaparte helped to create a market for miniatures that William Essex was fueling long after the emperor's death.

Before 2000
Mabel Porozynski (1918-2000), Brecksville, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
2000-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain). Royal Academy Exhibition. 1853. no. 647
Cincinnati Art Museum, Julie Aronson, and Marjorie E. Wieseman. Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures from the Cincinnati Art Museum. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2006. pp. 147-48, no. 51
Korkow, Cory, and Dario Robleto. Disembodied: Portrait Miniatures and Their Contemporary Relatives. 2013. Mentioned: p. 85
Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl. British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art. 2013. Cat. no. 72, pp. 275-278
Disembodied: Portrait Minatures and their Contemporary Relatives. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 10, 2013-February 16, 2014).
Main European Rotation (Gallery 202), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 23, 2013 - May 20, 2014).
Royal Academy Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (1853).
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Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2000.106