Lot 176 Dα

An old label with a hand-written inscription to the reverse: "Napoleon / L [?] Jagemann pinxit / Paris".
Ferdinand Jagemann was born in Weimar and resided in Paris from 1802 to 1804, where he studied under Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). This portrait of Napoleon was presumably painted during this time. The piece is based upon David's famous work "Napoleon Crossing the Alps". Five versions of David's work exist, painted between 1800 and 1802, whereby the example in Malmaison Palace is thought to be the prime version.
The present work does not depict Napoleon in the famous pose on a rearing horse, but in a shoulder-length portrait, dressed in a gold embroidered uniform and a red cloak. He wears a gold embroidered bicorne with a red, white, and blue cockade. Napoleon was First Consul of the French Republic from 1799 to 1804 before crowning himself Emperor on 2nd December 1804.
Ferdinand Jagemann returned to Weimar following his Paris sojourn, and there became a popular portrait painter. His paintings of Goethe became particularly well-known, and he also painted Friedrich Schiller on his deathbed. Jageman only lived to become 39 years old, and died in his home town of Weimar in 1820.