Bust of General Napoleon Bonaparte at The Grand Curtius Liege, Belgium

myminifactory

This exceptionally rare plaster bust of Napoleon is one of the very few portraits made before his coup d'etat in 1799. In 1798, Charles-Louis Corbet was commissioned by the revolutionary government to portray General Bonaparte from life. This first model was created in plaster and exhibited at the Salon in July 1798 with an inscription that reads "...fait d'après nature." Napoleon must have sat for Corbet before he departed for his ill-fated Egyptian campaign later that year. The image of Napoleon seen here is distinctly different from the short-haired, visually plain man depicted as Emperor in portraits such as those by Jacques-Louis David. Corbet's bust, similar to Antoine-Jean Gros' 1801 portrait of Napoleon at the Bridge of Arcole (Louvre), portrays the young general as a consciously heroic and even handsome man. The bust not only reflects Napoleon's growing popularity in France at the time following his brilliant victories in Italy but may have also played a role in creating a personal cult around the future Emperor. Charles-Louis Corbet was a French sculptor born in January 1758 and died on December 10, 1808. He is known for creating a bust of Napoleon and a statue of a French Dragoon that stands on the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. This object is part of "Scan The World," a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory to create a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks, and landmarks from around the globe for public access. Scan The World is an open-source community effort. If you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help. This sculpture was scanned using photogrammetry and processed with Agisoft PhotoScan.