Fan with Napoleon flanked by Peace and Victory
Not on view
This fan was designed by Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, two of the most important designers of the Directory period (1795–99) who would eventually gain success as the official architects of Napoleon Bonaparte. A rare example of an authored fan, it was produced in 1798 to commemorate the successful conclusion of Napoleon's military campaign in Italy.
This éventail plié or pleated fan is printed with brown ink on paper and has been placed on a simple wooden mount. The design, which was engraved using a stipple technique by the English printmaker Jean Godfroy, features a profile portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte by the sculptor Denis Antoine Chaudet, flanked by allegories of war on the right and peace on the left. The central portrait roundel is supported by the female figures of fame and victory. Percier and Fontaine would later incorporate a number of the Neoclassical decorative motifs pictured on this fan in the projects published in their famous design book, Recueil de décorations intérieures (1801–12).
[Iris Moon, 2016]
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