Napoleon meditating before the tomb of Frederick II of Prussia in the crypt of the Garnisonkirche in Potsdam

Despite having made his triumphal entry into Berlin and having annihiliated the Prussian army at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt 14 October, 1806, Napoleon seems nevertheless to have been obsessed by the memory of Frederick the Great's victories. Ponce-Camus here echoes this uncertainty and shows Napoleon meditating before the tomb of Frederick II of Prussia in the crypt of the Garnisonkirche in Potsdam, on 26 October, 1806.

Ponce-Camus specialised in portrait and history painting, and here he makes great play of the light and shade and the shadows projected on the walls of the extremely bare vault. The atmosphere is mysterious and in the foreground stands Geim, the sacristan at the church who served as Napoleon's guide. The tomb of Frederick the Great (the name, written in capitals on the side of the sarcophagus, can clearly be seen) is the principal element in the composition and it is lit by a lantern carried by Tramonci, the valet de chambre which Frederick-William III had put at Napoleon's disposal. The colossal door and the other massive elements are very imposing and seem to tower over the men in the vault, humbling even the boldest. The spectator is invited to share this feeling and to enter the vault following the picture's line of site. Great care has been taken in the expression of emotion seen on the faces: regardless of eyewitness accounts, Murat is placed next to the emperor; further off stand Berthier, Duroc and Ségur. Whilst it is unlikely that there were so many people around Napoleon in the tomb on that day, nevertheless Napoleon's pose and expression of absorption seem to ring true.

The painting was exhibited at Salon of 1810 and received the following (anonymous) criticism: «Monsieur Camus has the talent to make a lifelike emperor» (Sentiment impartial sur le Salon de 1810, Paris, Chaignieau aîné, 1810, p. 14). The work was to be bought by the state after the salon (Archives des Musées nationaux, P 6 1800 and Archives nationales, A FIV 1050), and then hung in the dining room in the Grand Trianon.

Elodie Lerner (tr. & ed. P.H.)
 
October 2006