Images That Inspired The Mint Master

Early Medal (1796) of Napoleon Bonaparte inspired by a drawing from Giuseppe Longhi (1796)

Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most thoroughly studied celebrities of human civilization. According to J.D. Markham, over 300,000 different books about Napoleon have been written over the past 2 centuries, a staggering figure, when compared to other celebrities (heroe or foe) from the past. Similar to the staggering volume of written works, the portrait of Napoleon was depicted on a huge number drawings & paintings (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icono...apoleon_Ier) but also statues and medals. Despite an attempt (immediately after the fall of the emperor), to erase the memory of Napoleon from society, the medals depicting Napoleon became collector's items over the course of the 19th century. And their diversity is huge. Bramsen's reference work (Medailler de Napoleon Le Grand, 3 tomes, 1904) enlists more than 2000 different pieces, not counting the variants.

This vast amount of items had a beginning: a relatively unknown and poorly characterized piece: a medal with a diameter of 33 mm and weight of ±10 grams produced from brass, red copper or silver metal with a portrait and text celebrating the already succesfull campaign of the young general Napoleon in Italy. A picture of this medal is shown below.



The medal is mentioned for the first time in the book of J.S. Hennin (1826 - Histoire Numismatique de la Revolution Française), number 767. The description and drawing show the portrait of Napoleon to the right on the front with the edge inscription: BUONOPARTE GENERAL EN CHEF DE LA BRAVE ARMEE DITALLIE
The reverse shows Minerva sitting on a weapon booty, holding a laurel branch in her right hand, resting on a shield and a fascius. Below: 1796. The legend is : VOILA SOLDATS VALEUREUX LE FRUIT DE VOS TRAVAUX.



In the context of this CCF thread, I wondered if one could find a direct link to the artist who created this powerful portrait in 1796. A likely answer is shown on the French Wiki pages describing the campaign of Napoleon in Italy (1796-1797) or the iconography of Napoleon (see address below). Each page shows the same drawing of the portrait of Napoleon made by Giuseppe Longhi in 1796.



According to I. Olivier this portrait (18.5 × 14 cm - in pencil enhanced with watercolor) was made in Milan in the autumn of 1796 when the artist met the general in real. In his article, Olivier mentions that this drawing became soon famous and was imitated by many others in Europe; moreover because of false pieces from earlier dates, the 1796 portrait may be the first authentic image of the general. The remarkable resemblance between the portrait on the medals described by Hennin and Longhi's sketch is not limited to the general's face, but also to generals' hair (with ribbon) and the waistcoat with the embroidered edges. This near-perfect resemblance suggests that indeed the medals and the drawing are connected. The first image of a man who would climb from that moment in less than a decade to the most powerful position of his time.

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/his...ry-essay.php
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campa..._(1796-1797)
http://www.revue-circe.uvsq.fr/le-p...ur-lhistoire -thin-faux/
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icono...Napoleon_Ier

Interesting! Thanks for sharing

Impressive!

I already posted this in the Exonumia thread, but my 2½ Gerritje Bronze token, celebrating 800 years of City Rights of the town of 's Hertogenbosch, features the "Marskramer" ("The Wayfarer"), a well-known allegorical painting by local famous artist Hieronymus Bosch.

Very interesting thread!

The Birth of Venus by Botticelli in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence...

(image in public domain)

Current (2002 onwards) Italian 20-cent coin:

great to see modern pieces that fit into this theme

Very interesting!