Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte on the Second of December

Constantin Guys

1851–55 · Graphite, brown ink, and gray wash on off-white wove paper · Robert Lehman Collection

“Napoléon le 2 décembre” was inscribed on a label once affixed to the backing of this sheet. If the identification is sound, the drawing represents the triumphant Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte the day he staged a coup d’état to overthrow the Republican government in 1851. He was later crowned Emperor Napoléon III, and the Second Empire took hold.

Artist

Constantin Guys

Date

1851–55

Medium

Graphite, brown ink, and gray wash on off-white wove paper

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975