Of the numerous means employed to commemorate the achievements of
Napoleon, the public buildings and monuments of France bear ample
witness. Indeed, Bonaparte's name and fame are so engrafted with the
arts and literature of France, that it would be impossible for the
government to erase the estimation in which he is held by the French
people.
_A series of medals in bronze_, nearly one hundred and thirty in number,
struck at different epochs of his career, exist, each in celebration of
the prowess of the French army, or of some great act of his government:
a victory, a successful expedition, the conquest of a nation, the
establishment of a new state, the elevation of some of his family, or
his own personal aggrandizement.
The medal commemorative of the _battle of Marengo_ bears, on one side, a
large bunch of keys, environed by two laurel branches; and, on the
reverse, Bonaparte, as a winged genius, standing on a dismounted cannon
to which four horses are attached upon the summit of Mount St. Bernard,
urges their rapid speed, with a laurel branch in one hand, whilst he
directs the reins with the other.
That on the _peace of Luneville_ is two inches and a quarter in
diameter, with the head of the first consul in uncommonly bold relief;
the device, as mentioned in another place, is the sun arising in
splendor upon that part of the globe which represents France, and which
is overshadowed by laurels, whilst a cloud descends and obscures Great
Britain.
The commencement of hostilities by England, after the _peace of Amiens_,
is designated by the English leopard tearing a scroll, with the
inscription, _Le Traité d'Amiens Rompu par l'Angleterre en Mai de l'An_
1803; on the reverse, a winged female figure in breathless haste forcing
on a horse at full speed, and holding a laurel crown, inscribed,
_L'Hanovre occupé var l'Armée Francaise en Juin de l'An_ 1803; and
beneath, _Frappée avec l'Argent des Mines d'Hanovre, l'An 4 de
Bonaparte_.
His medal, on assuming the purple, has his portrait, _Napoleon
Empereur_, by Andrieu, who executed nearly all the portraits on his
medals; on the reverse, he is in his imperial robes, elevated by two
figures, one armed, inscribed, _Le Senat et le Peuple_.
The _battle of Austerlitz_ has, on the reverse, simply a thunderbolt,
with a small figure of Napoleon, enrobed and enthroned on the upper end
of the shaft of the thunder.
In 1804, he struck a medal with a Herculean figure on the reverse,
confining the head of the English leopard between his knees, whilst
preparing a cord to strangle him, inscribed _En l'An XII. 2000 barques
sont construites_;--this was in condemnation of the invasion and
conquest of England.
The reverse of the medal on the _battle of Jena_ represents Napoleon on
an eagle in the clouds, as warring with giants on the earth, whom he
blasts with thunderbolts.
The medal on the _Confederation of the Rhine_ has, for its reverse,
numerous warriors in ancient armor, swearing with their right hands on
an altar, formed of an immense fasces, with the imperial eagle
projecting from it.
Not the least characteristic of the series is a medal, with the usual
head _Napoleon Emp. et Roi_, on the exergue, with this remarkable
reverse, a throne, with the imperial robes over the back and across the
sceptre, which is in the chair; before the throne is a table, with
several crowns, differing in shape and dignity, and some sceptres with
them lying upon it; three crowns are on the ground, one broken and two
upside down; an eagle with a fasces hovers in the air; the inscription
is, _Souverainetés donnés_ M.DCCCVI.
The reverses of the last four in succession, struck during the reign of
Napoleon, are, 1. The _Wolga_, rising with astonishment from his bed at
the sight of the French eagle; 2. A representation of _la Bataille de la
Moskowa, 7 Septembre, 1812_; 3. _A view of Moscow_, with the French flag
flying on the Kremlin, and an ensign of the French eagle, bearing the
letter N. loftily elevated above its towers and minarets, dated 14th
September, 1812; 4. A figure in the air, directing a furious storm
against an armed warrior resembling Napoleon, who, unable to resist the
attack, is sternly looking back, whilst compelled to fly before it--a
dead horse, cannon dismounted, and a wagon full of troops standing
still, perishing in fields of snow; the inscription is, _Retraite de
l'Armée, Novembre, 1812_.
The workmanship of the preceding medals are admirable, but most of them
are surpassed in that respect by some to which we can do little more
than allude.
A finely executed medal, two inches and five-eights in diameter,
represents Napoleon enthroned in his full imperial costume, holding a
laurel wreath; on the reverse is a head of _Minerva_, surrounded by
laurel and various trophies of the fine arts, with this
inscription--_Ecole Francaise des Beaux Arts à Rome, rétablie et
augmentée par Napoleon en 1803_. The reverses--of the Cathedral at
Paris--a warrior sheathing his sword (on the battle of Jena)--and
Bonaparte holding up the King of Rome, and presenting him to the
people--are amongst the most highly finished and most inestimable
specimens of art.
Unquestionably the _worst_ in the collection is the consular medal,
which, on that account, deserves description; it is, in size, about a
half crown piece, on the exergue, over a small head of Bonaparte, is
inscribed _Bonaparte premier consul_; beneath it, _Cambacères second
consul, le Brun troisième consul de la république Francaise_; on the
reverse, _Le peuple Francais à défenseurs, cette première pierre de la
colonne nationale, posée par Lucien Bonaparte, ministre de l'interieur,
25 Messidore, An 8, 14 Juillet, 1800_.--One other medal only appears
with the name of Lucien Bonaparte; it is that struck in honor of Marshal
Turenne, upon the _Translation du corps de Turenne au Temple de Mars par
les ordres du premier Consul Bonaparte_; and is of a large size, bearing
the head of Turenne, with, beneath it, _Sa gloire appartient au peuple
Francais_. Several are in honor of General Desaix, whose memory Napoleon
held in great esteem. Those on his marriage with Marie Louise bear her
head beside his own; and a small one on that occasion has for its
reverse, a Cupid carrying with difficulty a thunderbolt. Those on the
birth of their child bear the same heads on the exergue, with the head
of an infant, on the reverse, inscribed, _Napoleon François Joseph
Charles, Rio de Rome, XX. Mars M.DCCCXI.--Ireland_.