Offered by GSLR Antiques
Bust of Napoleon I as Hermes. Bronze with dark brown-black patina, lost-wax casting, titled *Napoleon* on the front. Circle of Denis Chaudet (1763–1810) or his workshop. Empire period cast.
One month after the proclamation of the Empire, in Messidor Year XII (1804), newspapers informed collectors that life-size plaster busts of the Emperor, modeled by Chaudet, were available. The artist had just modified his 1802 bust by removing the baldric and cloak in order to create the purified model of Napoleon as Hermes, which would achieve immense success.
Although this effigy was not the subject of an official commission, it met with great acclaim and was reproduced in plaster, bronze, Sèvres biscuit porcelain, and marble. Dominique Vivant Denon (1747–1825), first director of the Musée Napoléon at the Louvre, had around fifteen bronzes of exceptional quality cast in 1807 for the high dignitaries of the Empire. Following this prestigious series, it appears that examples of various sizes were produced either as gifts for less important figures or for sale.
Our bust belongs to this series of so-called “medium-size” examples of very fine casting and chasing quality, cast around the 1810s.
The bust of Napoleon as Hermes (a bust on an antique quadrangular pillar) is a great classic among Empire collectors and has been reproduced in many versions of varying quality. Our bust is a genuine Empire period cast, a lost-wax bronze and not a mechanical reproduction, with a beautiful black patina, exceptionally refined chasing (particularly visible in the details of the hair), and an impressive large scale.
Very good condition, with a homogeneous and well-preserved patina.
Height: 48 cm
