Bonaparte, First Consul, at Malmaison

Presented to the Salon of 1802 (n°913) entitled
Portrait du Premier Consul se promenant dans le jardin
de la Malmaison (Portrait of the First Consul walking in his garden at Malmaison). On recalling the moment when he painted this first picture of Bonaparte in the pose that was to be handed down to posterity, Isabey remarked: “This was the first standing portrait I made of General Bonaparte. I watching him pacing all day long alone in the park, his hands behind his back, absorbed in his thoughts; it was easy for me to catch his pensive expression and turn of his body. When I had finished the portrait, I presented it to the general. He was pleased with the resemblance,
and congratulated me on having been able to work in this way, without having to have the model stand in a pose”.