Tuesday 17 February 2015

More Napoleonic Uniforms at Invalides

Great detail in these officer uniforms - such wonderful finery!
Surely a visit to Paris for any Napoleonic afficionado must involve a trip to the French Army Museum at Invalides.  It is far too important to pass up!

I took hundreds of photos over two different trips sometime ago however loved this photographs especially as they showed the detail, intricacy and finery of the uniforms of the time.


Guard bearskin from the Chasseurs; Early French Grenadier in bicorne

At the time in was difficult to photograph so many wonderful exhibits as they are, quite rightly, strict about flash photography and fade on their prize items.  The cynic in me also thought that the bookshop downstairs relied on quite a few lovers of the period to part with their francs (yes the first visit WAS that long ago!) and buy some of their wonderful publications and cards.

Make no bones about it, I certainly did spend a small fortune on so many wonderful items.

I also managed to make it to the Louvre with a colleague and we spent quite a bit of time enjoying the wonderful Napoleonic period battle scenes and portraits on display.  Not quite the scale of "The Hall of Battles" at Versailles, but still wonderful.

The scale has to be seen to be believed.  Famous paintings in the Louvre.

I have just had the lovely figure from Gringos40 based upon the painting above finished for me for a venture onto the fields of Russia 1812 sometime soon.

The famous Theodore Gericault painting of the Officer of the Guard Chasseurs or "The Charging Chasseur" is one of my all time favourites.  A large print hangs in my wargames room and the figure itself has been copied by Alan and Michael Perry, Frank Hinchcliffe and I believe Peter Gilder.





6 comments:

  1. That's one of my favourite paintings too, but I never realised it was so big.

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  2. Exactly the reason for the post Mark - it's bloody huge!! So many of them are vast canvas battlefields with so much detail.

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  3. A wonderful collection - thanks for the images. I never realized the famous Chasseur painting is almost life-sized!

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    1. Thanks Dean - yes the size is most impressive. The biggest shock is when I actually saw the beautiful "Vive L'Emperuer" painting (the cover art for the General De Brigade rules set) in teh flesh at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Gorgeous and monstrous. Should get the photo out again and post.

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  4. Nice shots, and once again agreeded about the scale of the paintings - Magnifique!

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