About This Artwork
Death Mask of Napoleonmodeled 1821 (cast 1833)
Bronze
H. 34.9 cm (13 1/4 in.)
Marks: Engraved inscrip. left neck truncation: Dr. F. Antommarchi; right neck truncation: FONDU/PAR RICHARD ET QUESNEL/A PARIS; seal cast separately and welded under neck truncation showing profile of Napoleon crowned with laurel wreath; inscribed around: NAPOLEON EMP. ET ROI.; inscribed under truncation: SOUSCRIPTION/DR. ANTOMMARCHI 1833
Estate of E. Blake Blair, 1987.185
Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Not on Display
Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories
Publication History
International College of Surgeons, Hall of Fame: A Museum of the History of Surgery and Related Sciences (Chicago, 1964), p. 15.
Robert Kashey and Martin L. H. Reymert, Western Bronzes of the Nineteenth Century: A Survey, ex. cat. (New York: Shepherd Gallery, 1973), no. 12.
James David Draper, The Arts under Napoleon, ex. cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1978), no. 197.
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, Old Master, 19th and 20th Century Paintings, Drawings, and Prints, English, American, and Continental Furniture and Decorations, Oriental Works of Art, Porcelain, Silver, Jewelry, and Rugs, sale cat. (May 11-14, 1986), lot 69.
“Napoleon’s Death Mask,” Member’s Bulletin: The Napoleonic Society of America 15 (June 1987), p. 16 (ill.).
Christie’s, Fine French and Continental Furniture, Objects of Art, Clocks, Carpets, Tapestries and Sculpture, sale cat. (November 24, 1987), p. 236, lot 265.
Ownership History
E. (Edward) Blake Blair, Jr. (died 1985), Chicago, before 1985; consigned to Leslie Hindman Auctioneers (withdrawn), 1986; purchased by the Art Institute, 1987.