Description
Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet was a French painter and printmaker. He worked as a civil servant in Paris, then joined the army. A Bonapartist, he lost his commission when the monarchy was restored, and turned to drawing and painting and began an apprenticeship with Antoine-Jean Gros in 1817. He began publishing lithographs which reflected his military background, including a collection of infantry uniforms and illustrations for Antoine-Vincent Arnault’s La Vie Politique et Militaire de Napoléon (1826). After the revolution of 1830, he became a captain in the National Guard and held other military positions for the next decade. He is best known for battle scenes of the Napoleonic era. Charlet was elected to the Academy of Beaux-Arts in 1836. His works today are in the collections of numerous French museums and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning and wear. Lithograph cut to image and mounted on French mat, probably as issued, and almost certain nonetheless in the 19th century.
References:
Eldridge, Alana. “Writing Visual History into La Comédie humaine: Balzac and the Napoleonic Myth.” European Studies Conference Selected Proceedings, University of Nebraska at Omaha. 2007. http://www.unomaha.edu/esc/2007Proceedings/Eldrige_Balzac.pdf (2 June 2009).
“Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet.” The Grove Dictionary of Art. New York: Macmillan. 2000. Artnet.com. (2 June 2009).
“Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet, aux origines de la légende napoléonienne.” Napoleon.org. 2009. http://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/whats_on/files/472781.asp (2 June 2009).
