A FRENCH BRONZE GROUP ENTITLED 'LE RÉVEIL DE NAPOLÉON' OR 'NAPOLÉON S'ÉVEILLANT À L'IMMORTALITÉ'

The present bronze is a reduction of what Hargrove has described as one of Rude's greatest works. Commissioned by Captain Claude Noisot, formerly commandant of Elba, the 2.5 meter original was executed without fee by Rude and cast by Eck & Durand 1845-47. The original inscription bears the personal dedication To Napoleon, Noisot, Grenadier of the Isle of Elba and Rude, sculptor. Rude's initial plaster sketch in the Musée Noisot was cast in bronze by Thiébaut Frères for the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon. The full size plaster was purchased by the state in 1891 for the Louvre and is now in the Musée d'Orsay. The dedication identifies the Norwegian sculptor Gunnar Utsond (1864-1950) who presumably ordered the cast to be made by the Paris foundry E. Gruet Jeune.