Antoine-Jean, Baron Gros (French, 1771-1835), "Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (1769-1821)", oil on canvas (oval stretcher), inscribed "J. Gros. / 1807." en verso, 26 1/2 in. x 22 1/4 in., in original carved and molded giltwood frame, with laurel diadems in spandrels and massive thunderbolts as crests. Provenance: Victor Marie Maurin (1784-1836), probably the son of Baron Jacques-Marie-Joseph Maurin and the nephew of Baron Antoine Maurin, Brigadier General in the Napoleonic Army; to Major Victor Auguste Maurin (1818-1875), of the Confederate Army; to Joseph Maurin (1873-1904); to Nolan Maurin (1903-1988); inherited by the present owner. Note: This strikingly informal portrait shows "le grand Empereur" bareheaded, and wearing an ordinary uniform, decorated only with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor and a couple of campaign ribbons; but its sense of majesty and power comes from Gros' intimate relationship with the sitter, and his mastery of nuance and subtlety in the handling of paint. ne sees instantly, from this inspired characterization, why Gros was nominated by all succeeding painters as the fountainhead of the Romantic Movement. The almost Leonardesque sfumato, or haziness of outline (especially in the magisterial handling of the eyes), the delicacy of treatment in the features (especially the sensuous fullness of the lips), and the vivacious coloring (especially in the vigorous impasto of the flesh tones, in the highlighted areas of forehead, cheeks, and chin), all bring this portrait very close to an ideal of the romantic hero. Gros here takes full advantage of Napoléon's youth and beauty to transmit a vision of the perfectibility of state portraiture, even in so private and personal an image as this. An independent confirmation that the Emperor actually looked like this, at the time the picture was painted, is afforded by a full-length portrait by Robert Lefèvre (1755-1830), Napoléon en Costume du Sacre (Napoleon in Coronation Robes), of 1806 [Château de Versailles], and its nearl 40 autograph replicas, extending at least until 1808 (Jacques Seligman & Co., Inc. Baron A-J Gros, Painter of Battles, New York, 1955, pl. 1). The Emperor himself is said to have approved of these many versions particularly for their fine likeness; in this picture by Baron Gros we find the same informal curl of hair across the forehead, the same smoldering gaze, and the same sense of majesty, albeit in a much more relaxed costume. A highly comparable image from Gros' own workshop, at a size identical to this picture, is a portrait of Napoléon as General that was sold by Koller Auctionen AG (22 September 2004, lot 3093). This fine painting is unrelined, and untouched by restoration; the inscription on the verso (if probably not in Gros' own handwriting, with which it has slight differences), is at the least certainly contemporaneous, as evidenced by the date of 1807, and the degree to which the likeness parallels Lefèvre's of the same years. The frame is superb: its laurel wreaths accurately symbolize militar prowess, and the huge sheaf of thunderbolts (modeled on ancient Greek coins of Olympia, Zeus' sanctuary in Elis) stand for the omnipotence of a monarch who was then at the height of his power and reputation; it was evidently intended for presentation to a personal friend at court or in the army. References: David O'Brien, After the Revolution: Antoine-Jean Gros-Painting and Propaganda Under Napoleon, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006 We are very grateful indeed to Professor O'Brien and to a colleague of his at the Château de Versailles for their kind commentaries on this picture.