According to the book, History of the First Napoleon, by Louis Philippe R. Fenwick de Porquet, the scene portrayed in this oil on canvas painting is a historical event. Originally by the British painter, Hugh de Twenebrokes Glazebrook in 1890 (ours is an interpretation by L. Garnier), C’est L’Empereur depicts Napoleon himself standing watch in a field during the Revolutionary War.

Napoleon is positioned in between two haystacks that dot the field. He is dressed in his typical battle uniform of a colonel in the Chasseurs à Cheval de La Garde Impériale, which is a grayish-green overcoat over white livery, with black boots and a matching bicorne hat. Napoleon’s famous white horse, Marengo, can be seen in front of a row of green trees in the distance, next to a rider on a brown horse. The sky is gray and hazy as Napoleon stands watch in lieu of the Infantryman who neglected his sentry duties to take a nap behind one of the stacks of hay. Napoleon glares sternly with his arms crossed over his chest and his bayonetted musket tucked in the crook of one of his elbows.

Our L. Garnier painting of Napoleon is surrounded by a gold matte border set inside a brown frame with thin molding. The original Glazebrook painting was gifted by the artist himself to The University of Toronto in 1916.

CONDITION: Very good condition with minor nicks and rubs to the frame. Eyelet in back for hanging purposes. Signed on the lower right of the canvas: “L. Garnier d’apr Glazebrook”.