promises-of-paradise - Tumblr blog

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I don’t remember where I got this image from. The artist is (probably) Jean-Henri Benner.

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Pauline Bonaparte

I haven't drawn a woman in a long time so I decided to draw one of my favourite Napoleonic women - Pauline!

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Unknown diary:

I can feel that the emperor can't love me anymore. Why? When I want to ask this question countless times, the result is a headache. Every day is so unbearable. When will such a day end?

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MARIE-THÉRÈSE FIGUEUR // SOLDIER

“She was a French soldier who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Unlike some female soldiers before the twentieth century, she did not disguise her gender when she enlisted, serving for twenty-two years under her own name in the French Revolutionary Army and the Grande Armée.”

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Just two of them being silly, nothing can go wrong, right?

Oh no.

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do you think old man yaoi can blossom even on a battlefield

Yes. More than anywhere else

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Self-ignite

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DO YOU KNOW JEAN ANDOCHE JUNOT

I have heard about him. A friend of His Imperial Majesty is a friend of mine, I suppose... but, in all honesty, I would not touch that man with a ten foot pole.

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Save a horse ride a hussar

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Portrait of Josephine by Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, circa 1805

Preparatory study for the “Portrait de l'Impératrice Joséphine”, Fondation Custodia Collection Online database, inv. no. 6698, https://collectiononline.fondationcustodia.fr

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So I had a FIRE whiteboard session with my lovely @apurpledust a few minutes ago. I’ll post some of mine and one of bec’s that she has graciously bestowed upon me😌

I drew some of the napoleonic RP going on from the lannes, soult, and ney blogs bc it’s the best

And just some random stuff (mainly soult)

And here is bec’s 🎉AMAZING🎉 💖ADORABLE 💖 ✨BEAUTIFUL ✨ napjuno art, it’s so cute🥹 its canon

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LANNES, SOULT TURNED INTO A KITTY CAT HE CAN NOW BE HEAD-PATTED IVE TRIED SUCCESSFULLY

BONJOURMONSIEURKITTYYOUAREVERYSOFTANDCUDDLYDOYOUHAVEAFAMILYWHATISITLIKEBEINGACAT

🐱: MIAO. *

*Translator’s note: “What is happening. What is this kitten doing.”

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It's Friday: time to confess your sins to father Joseph.

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quick sketches + quick messy coloring (apologies if theres language errors i’m half asleep💀)

bonus

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Was Napoleon Bisexual?

I have seen several tumblr posts (or it is the same being reblogged over and over again haha) on a specific book: Napoleon bisexual emperor by Frank Richardson. Unfortunately this book is seemingly very hard to find and since I’m no expert on determining someone’s sexuality, I just wanted to share a few quotes I found on this subject since it seems to fascinate quite some people, myself included.

Here is a piece from the ebook dictator’s sex lives:

“There has been a great deal of speculation that Napoleon was gay. He tolerated homosexuality in the army and refused to outlaw homosexual practices in his Napoleonic Code. Many men wrote of his “seductive charm”. General de Segur put it most succinctly: “In moments of sublime power, he no longer commands like a man but seduces like a woman.”

Later during his exile on st Helena Napoleon confided something to Caulaincourt upon meeting a handsome man:

“He told me that for him the heart was not, the organ of sentiment; that he felt emotions only where men experience feelings of another kind: nothing in the heart, everything in the loins and in another place, which I leave nameless.”

One of the famous arguments used to proof Napoleon’s possible bisexuality was Napoleon’s obsession with the young Tsar of Russia, Alexander I. When they first met on a raft on the River Tilsit, Napoleon exclaimed: “It is Apollo!” Later he wrote to his wife Josephine: “If he were a woman I would make him my mistress.”

Josephine’s maid talked about Napoleon’s “predilection for handsome men”. His aides were often young and effeminate, and he would caress them. Even his secetary Meneval described some of Napoleon’s behaviour which would be viewed as slightly unusual:

“In these days of leisure, which was but apparent, for it usually concealed an increase of cerebral activity, Napoleon appeared embarrassed how to spend his time. He would go and spend an hour with the Empress, then he would return, and sitting down on the settee, would sleep, or appear to sleep for a few minutes. He would then come and seat himself on the corner of my writing-table, or on one of the arms of my chair, or even on my knees. He would then put his arm round my neck, and amuse himself by gently pulling my ear, or by patting me on the shoulder, or on the cheek. He would speak to me of all sorts of disconnected subjects, of himself, of his manias, of his constitution, of me, or of some plan that he had in his head.”

Some historians affirm that Napoleon had multiple affairs with men, mainly soldiers but of course there is no  real evidence to back this up, yet at the same time it was of course logical that such meetings would not leave much if any evidence behind.

Keith Stern (Queers in History, 2009) mentions that Napoleon was particularly inclined toward same-sex love with his fellow soldiers, and that many of his aides were notoriously effeminate. General Duroc, who served as Grand Marshal of the palace, was widely rumored to be the emperor’s lover. As well, Gaspard Gourgaud, one of Napoleon’s aides/lovers, jealously guarded access to his master.

We can however never be certain whether Napoleon was truly bisexual though there are some experiences and written down encounters that suggest that he was. Of course being bisexual in the 18th and 19th century would have been a completely different experience than in the 21st century. It is however noticable how virtually every country in Europe punished sodomy severely yet Napoleon decided to decriminalize the act of sodomy completely.

There is one last interesting thing to observe: Napoleon had a homosexual friend, Laugier de Bellecour who studied with him on the École Militaire. It is known that Laugier sometimes teased Napoleon about his moralities concerning sexual activities with men which eventually resulted in the fight between the two. Later Napoleon said he regretted it and often spoke of his friend with genuine affection.

Make of this what you wish but it will certainly remain an interesting subject to study.

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He commited multiple crimes

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7 & 20! 💕

7: Favourite historical dressing, uniform, or costume?

I have so many, but I’ll try to narrow it down. For women’s fashion, I’d say my favourite eras are early 1800s, 1870s, and 1915-16:

But for men’s clothing, I only have one answer: Napoleonic era hussar uniforms 🤤

20: Historical crush?

I already answered my Napoleonic crush to another ask, so here’s a crush from a different era: Felix Yusupov. He murdered Rasputin then wrote a very entertaining book about it, and also happened to be very cute! 🥰