Napoleon being in the gallery of the Louvre one day, attended by Baron
Denon, turned round suddenly from a fine picture, which he had viewed
for some time in silence, and said to him, "That is a noble picture,
Denon."--"Immortal," was Denon's reply. "How long," inquired Napoleon,
"will this picture last?" Denon answered, that, "with care and in a
proper situation, it might last, perhaps, five hundred years."--"And
how long," said Napoleon, "will a statue last?"--"Perhaps," replied
Denon, "five thousand years."--"And this," returned Napoleon, sharply,
"this you call immortality!"
* * * * *