Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

Charles-Louis CORBET
French 1758–1808
Bust of General Bonaparte of the
Army of the Orient
Buste de Bonaparte en général
de l’armée d’Orient
early 19th century
bronze
Fondation Napoléon, Paris
Acquisition 1992 inv. 43
Not long before Napoleon’s departure for
Egypt on 4 May 1798, the sculptor
Charles-Louis Corbet met with the young
General in order to create a life-size bust
portrait commissioned by the Directory.
Corbet’s plaster portrait of the young
Bonaparte was exhibited at the Paris Salon
of 1798 and proved so popular that it was
subsequently copied in plaster, in marble
and in bronze. Corbet captured the spirit
of the conqueror of Italy faced with his
dreams of the Orient, a new Alexander
in search of supreme glory.
© COPYRIGHT
This document remains the property of the National Gallery of Victoria and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.
49