Brown University

Cri de Paris

Description

Abstract:
Napoleon is lampooned as a clown resembling harlequin-type figures. Shown in profile, the size of his stomach and head are exaggerated, while is arms and legs are shortened. The uniform he wears is equally ridiculous. His coat is decorated with medals and several sashes, to which are tied other medals and emblems of power. He runs from the center of this image to the left side. A retreat is indicated by his bent sword and the uniform hat that lies on the ground; yet the action remains unclear and ambiguous. A woman who stands at the left of the image points to the French fort in the left distance. She wears simple clothing--a head scarf and wooden shoes--and carries a bucket full of water. Two pendants, a heart and a cross, dangle from a gold chain on her neck. A blade is attached to a cord tied around her waist. As she points she yells "Cerneaux! ... Cerneaux! ..." In the left distance, a fortified wall surrounds a group of Italianate buildings. At the top of one of these a man stands to look across the plain through a telescope. He watches military action--two groups appear to be clashing--that occurs on the plane that separates his camp from the settlement on the right. On the other side of the plain there is a bluff topped by windmills.
Notes:
British Museum catalog describes the scene as General Hulin [not Napoleon] fleeing Paris.
Dialogue: Soldier with telescope (l.): "Quel - est ce fuyard?"
Dialogue: Woman with bucket (r.): "Cerneaux! ... Cerneaux! ..."
Inscription: Se trouve chez Beaublé, Quai des Augustins, No. 47 à Paris.
Inscription: Déposé à la Direction Gén'le.

Access Conditions

Rights
No Copyright - United States
Restrictions on Use
Collection is open for research.

Citation

"Cri de Paris" (1815). Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Napoleonic Satires from the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:232042/

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