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PRINCE PONIATOWSKI, MARÉCHAL DE FRANCE
An extremely fine Empire gilt bronze equestrian statue of Prince Joseph Antoine Poniatowski, Maréchal de France (1763-1813), dressed in full military uniform, his left arm in a sling and a pistol in his right hand, the horse with extended legs and flaying mane and tail, upon a patinated bronze rock on a rectangular grey marble base
Paris, date circa 1818-20
Height 45 cm, width 42 cm, depth 17 cm.
This wonderful bronze was inspired by Horace Vernet’s (1789-1863) painting Le Mort de Poniatowski, which caused a sensation at the Paris Salon in 1817. Vernet’s painting, which was subsequently engraved, portrayed the heroic and badly wounded Maréchal, as he and his horse were about to leap into the River Elster at the Battle of Leipzig, 1813. The same model may have appeared surmounting a clock since a lithograph of 1825 (Bibliothèque Nationale Paris) after a design for a pedestal clock featuring Napoleon on horseback, is also inscribed “On établit pour pendants/ Le Prince Eugène Beauharnais/Le Prince Poniatowsky [sic]/Le Genéral Foy/Charles X” (illustrated in Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, “Vergoldete Bronzen”, 1986, p. 401, pl. 5.18.27). Unfortunately the engraving does not note the name of the sculptor nor the bronzier, though the quality of the chasing and gilding compares favourably with similar works by such celebrated firms as Galle or Ravrio.
Prince Poniatowski, a Polish patriot and military hero was the only foreigner to be honoured by Napoleon as a Maréchal - just three days before he met his death. He was born in Vienna on 7th May 1763, the son of Andrew Poniatowski and Countess Theresa Kinsky. First entering the army as a lieutenant in the Austrian troops, 1778 he then transferred to the Polish army in 1789 at the request of his uncle King Stanislas-Auguste of Poland. Poniatowski distinguished himself against the Russians in 1792 and took part in Kosciusko’s anti-Russian revolt in 1794. He was later offered the command of the National Guard and set about reorganizing the Polish army; in 1809 he was appointed by Napoleon war minister of the grand duchy of Warsaw and was also awarded the Grand Aigle de la Légion d’Honneur. In the same year Poniatowski led the Polish troops during Napoleon’s campaign against Austria, encountering them at Raszyn, and though compelled to abandon Warsaw ultimately forced the enemy to evacuate the grand duchy, and captured Krakow.
During Napoleon’s campaign against Russia in 1812 Poniatowski, as commander of the fifth army corps fought at Smolensk and Borodino. Following the disastrous retreat of the Grande Armee, many of the Poles began to waver in their allegiance to Napoleon but Poniatowski remained faithful; he formed a new Polish army of 13,000 men with which he joined the emperor at Liitzen. During the campaign of 1813 he guarded the passes of the Bohemian mountains and defended the left bank of the Elbe. As a reward for his brilliant services at the three days’ battle of Leipzig, on 16th October 1813 Napoleon appointed him a Maréchal of the French army and entrusted him with the honourable but dangerous duty of covering the retreat of the army. Poniatowski heroically defended Leipzig, losing half his corps in the attempt, finally falling back slowly upon the bridge over the Elster which during the general confusion the French had already blown up. Contesting every step with the overwhelming forces of the pursuers, he refused to surrender, and covered with wounds plunged into the river, where he died fighting to the last. His body was recovered and taken back to Warsaw where many flocked to pay him homage; it was then transported to Krakow cathedral where he was buried in the crypt of the Polish Kings. His life and death inspired countless artists including Horace Vernet, the Pole January Suchodolski (1797-1875) and later the British artist Richard Caton Woodville (1856-1927).
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