#napoleon as mars the peacemaker

[empirearchives]

“What Napoleon criticised in the statue could perhaps be summed up in one thing: his uneasiness at the sight of his own nudity. And it was precisely his nudity that was felt to be problematic, even shocking. But how did Canova come to have the odd idea of representing Napoleon as a nude divinity?”

— Valérie Huet, Napoleon I: A New Augustus?

The nude statue of Napoleon in question:

[monimarat]

Maxime and Napoleon in Milan

[kaxenart]

@usergreenpixel replied to your post “For the purposes of suggestions, I do consider...”:

Eugene de Beauharnais!

​We always talk about how Wellington has Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, but Eugene bought one of the plasters.

[eunikia]

Antonio Canova, Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, Wellington Museum (Apsley House), London

I'm speechless...

[escapismsworld]

Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, Antonio Canova

[napoleonbonaparte4ever]

Napoleon Bonaparte... The rightful owner of all women's hearts!

[corbenic]

This Week on Princess Imperial

Evie and Julien move to Corsica. There is a giant statue of Napoleon in their new home. Evie, much like the man himself, is not a fan

Evie answers a mysterious phone call

Evie and Julien christen a lifeboat at a navy base

Evie wears a VERY controversial dress to a film festival

[lux-vitae]

Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker by Antonio Canova (c. 1802-06)

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Prinny presents Arthur with the Buff Napoleon Statue then insists on having a party to unveil it. For once both Napoleon and Arthur are both embarrassed

Hahahaha unexpectedly, completely out of left field for both, they find themselves unified by Prinny’s Bad Ideas and a mutual dislike of One (1) Statue of Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker.

This would absolutely prompt some ridiculous hijinks to stop the unveiling from going forward. At some point Napoleon is like, ‘that’s it. I’m going to live in a hut in the Hebrides as a shepherd. I’m sure no one has heard of me up there. They probably think James I is still king of England.’

Arthur cackles. But he’s also committed to not having That Statue in his house.

Too late. The floor has already been reinforced to hold it.

[diagnosed-anxiety-disorder]

i dont know where it is but that one post about Napoleon seeing the state of him as Mars the Peacemaker and just being like "omg no DELETE that" lives rent free in my head

[kaxen]

SOMETIMES YOUR HEART IS JUST FULL WITH A STUPID COMPULSION TO PRINT NAPOLEON AS MARS THE PEACEMAKER IN BRIGHT PINK.

A couple pinholes, but that is quick to fill in and will be a quick sanding job (the glossy points are from adding a lil’ resin to fill it in) and need to sand off some of the more blatant support pock marks. His staff warped a little. Guess I should have put some supports on that.

Probably gonna hit him with a gloss coat. 

If you would like to print your own, the STL file is available from Scan the World. 

[kaxenart]

When you think an artist is gonna sculpt you in some actual clothes, but then he gives you the body of a greco-roman god and you’re pretty sure everyone is gonna make fun of you for having it so you ban it from public view...

....but the artist does not care you don’t like it and makes plaster copies anyway. 

....and your step-son gets a plaster.

....and eventually Wellington gets the marble one.

...and there is a bronze version too 

Napoleon as Mars The Peacemaker is a good wikipedia article lol 

[clove-pinks]

Sorry I wasn't listening to you, I was thinking about the Duke of Wellington's personal 11-foot-tall statue of nude, totally jacked Napoleon.

Twitter thread! (and yes Kate Beaton's "Nemesis" comic comes up)

[starthart]

Napoleon painted by David and Napoleon sculpted by Canova. (Canova photoshopped him for sure)

Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Bonaparte in his Study (1812)

Antonio Canova, Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker (1806)

[ellynneversweet]

Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, 1806, Antonio Canova

[redscharlach]

Mighty Moments In Slash History: I Was Defeated, You Won The War

This weekend I visited Apsley House, once the London home of the Duke of Wellington. In a prominent position stands this statue, Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker (1804–1806) by Antonio Canova. Since Napoleon and the Duke were famously on opposite sides in battle and there was only one winner (clue: not the French), you may be wondering why old Wellyboots had a massive naked statue of his archnemesis at the bottom of his stairs. Is it neoclassicism gone mad or Foe Yay in action?

Antonio Canova was very into the principles of Greek and Roman art, and insisted on making the statue a nude because that was Heroic and Classical and Manly™ and thus everything Napoleon was reputed to be. Then he presented it to Napoleon himself, who basically said "...um, okay" and stashed it somewhere discreet because it was much too “athletic” (ahem) for public viewing.

After Wellington's forces beat Napoleon at Waterloo, the British seized a load of Napoleon's art collections and presented the statue to Wellington, because well, who doesn't want to gaze upon their unrealistically hunky nude nemesis on the regular? (I certainly do.) Wishing to seem grateful, Wellington chose to put the naked Napoleon on show in a prominent position in his own home. After all, Wellington loved Canova's other work, and also had several portraits of Napoleon in his collection, wanting to commemorate his military skill, place in history, and worthiness as an adversary. So the statue was just one more bit of art, really. But because the statue's massive and made of solid marble, he had to have the floor specially reinforced to support it, which was a commitment.

What I didn't realize until I visited Apsley House myself is quite HOW huge the statue is. It’s over 11 feet tall. I am 5 ft 9, so when I walked up to the statue, the Napoleonic fig leaf was RIGHT at my eye level. Plus, the leaf covers Boney's bone (sorry) but not his balls, which are plainly visible if you step slightly to the side.

So what does this mean? Well, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was 5 feet 9 inches tall. So when he walked into his own hallway, a marble-hewn enlargement of his arch-enemy's scrotum, the size of an overgrown grapefruit, was hanging RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS NOSE.

I’m sure I’ve learned something from this story, but I’m really not sure what.