Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, after Jean-Baptiste Isabey's "Napoléon I (1769–1821)"

Miniature on celluloid

ca. late 19th to early 20th century

4 x 5 1/4 in. 

Pencil inscription on portrait verso reading: "Napoleon by Isabey"

Oval brass frame. 

A copy portrait of Isabey's "Napoléon I (1769–1821)," originally painted in 1812 and now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (42.53.5). Bonaparte is wearing the uniform of a colonel of the Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde Impériale Vieille, the same uniform depicted in the 1809 portrait by Robert Lefèvre (1755-1830). The Chasseurs provided personal escort to Napoleon and he often wore the uniform in recognition of this service. 

[Art, Fine Art, Portrait Miniature, Paintings, 19th Century, French Revolution, France, Napoleon]