JEAN-PIERRE MENUISIER (FRENCH, B. 1783)

Auguste de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa (1774-1852) was a French General and Marshal of France. He served Napoleon as aide-de-camp, general of brigade and inspector-general of artillery. In 1804 he was made grand officer of the Legion of Honour and Duke of Ragusa in 1808. He took part in numerous military campaigns and commanded the French army in the north of Spain until he was defeated by Wellington's troops in the battle of Salamanca when he was injured by shrapnel. After a brief recovery in France, he served Napoleon again in the 1813 campaigns in Lützen, Bautzen and Dresden. In 1814 Marmont made a deal with the Allied forces, thus weakening Napoleon's position in the Battle of Paris during which he was forced to abdicate.
On the restoration of the Bourbons, Marmont was made a peer of France, major-general of the foot guard, a knight of the Order of St Esprit and grand officer of the Order of St Louis. He was never forgiven by his countrymen, however, and his name was styled as a verb meaning 'to betray'.
In later life Marmont settled in Vienna where he was tutor to Napoleon's son, the Duke of Reichstadt. He died in 1852 in Vienna.

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Provenance

Bernard Franck (1848-1924) Collection.
Courtois Collection.

Literature

N. Lemoine-Bouchard, Les Peintres en miniature actifs en France 1650-1850, Paris, 2008, illustrated in colour, p. 397 (as by Jean-Désiré Muneret).

Exhibited

Montélimar, Musée de la Miniature, De la guerre en dentelles aux charges héroïques, 2006, no. 44 (as by Muneret), illustrated in colour p. 34.