From Top to Bottom, or Cause and Effect (Du haut en bas...ou les causes et les effets)

Elie|Napoléon Bonaparte

April 1814 · Etching, hand-colored · Drawings and Prints

Published in Paris shortly after Napoleon’s abdication, this satire suggests that the emperor fell because he attempted to wage simultaneous campaigns on opposite sides of Europe. French armies had successfully invaded Spain in 1808 but soon encountered guerrilla resistance backed by British troops. A series of defeats in 1812 forced a withdrawal over the Pyrenees. That same year Napoleon led his Grand Armée into Russia and captured Moscow, but again had to retreat after suffering heavy losses, brutal weather and inadequate supplies. This image shows the emperor falling from splintering stilts that still rest precariously on Madrid and Moscow. Dropping the imperial orb and scepter, he will land at Fontainebleau Palace, where he formally abdicated on April 11, 1814. Unlike British prints, this French image of Napoleon presents a wistful meditation on the downfall of a great man.

Artist

Elie|Napoléon Bonaparte

Date

April 1814

Medium

Etching, hand-colored

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

A. Hyatt Mayor Purchase Fund, Marjorie Phelps Starr Bequest, 2010