Madou, Battle of Marengo, Desaix Arrives, 1827, Lithograph

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An original antique lithograph from jean-baptiste madou's vie de napoléon, printed at brussels in 1827. The sheet is lettered "bataille … Read more An original antique lithograph from jean-baptiste madou's vie de napoléon, printed at brussels in 1827. The sheet is lettered "bataille de marengo" in open capitals above the image. Napoleon, in a bicorne on a galloping white horse, points forward at the center, with his staff around him and a turbaned rider raising a saber at the right. At the left a standard bearer holds up a flag before a square tower, and a kneeling man tends a fallen horse in harness. Beyond, columns of troops advance across a wide plain under drifting smoke toward a distant mountain, and a broken gun carriage lies in the right foreground. The caption below the image reads: "les autrichiens se regardaient comme certains de la victoire, lorsqu'on apperçut la division de desaix. „le moment est venu de marcher en avant, s'écria napoléon, souvenez vous que j'ai l'habitude de coucher sur le champ de bataille.”" in english: "the austrians thought themselves certain of victory when the division of desaix came into sight. 'the moment has come to march forward,' cried napoleon, 'remember that i am in the habit of sleeping on the field of battle.'" vie de napoléon was published at brussels in 1827 by the lithographie royale de jobard, éditeur propriétaire. Its title page describes a text written by a society of men of letters from new documents dictated and corrected by napoleon himself on saint helena, with plates lithographed by jean-baptiste madou (1796 to 1877) after the first painters of the french school. This plate belongs to the first volume. Marengo was fought on 14 june 1800 on the plain east of alessandria in piedmont, against the austrian army of general melas. By the afternoon the french had been driven back across the plain, until the division of general louis charles antoine desaix, recalled by bonaparte, arrived and led a counterattack with the cavalry of kellermann that turned the day. Desaix was killed in the attack. Condition: light wear to the top left corner. A band of brown toning along the top edge. Age toning, darker at the edges; handling soiling along the lower edge, a few small spots in the left margin and scattered foxing in the margins. Printed image clean. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less