Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte on the Second of December

Constantin Guys French

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“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.

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte on the Second of December, Constantin Guys (French, Flushing 1802–1892 Paris), Graphite, brown ink, and gray wash on off-white wove paper

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Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte on the Second of December, Constantin Guys (French, Flushing 1802–1892 Paris), Graphite, brown ink, and gray wash on off-white wove paper
Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte on the Second of December, Constantin Guys (French, Flushing 1802–1892 Paris), Graphite, brown ink, and gray wash on off-white wove paper

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