The Napoleonic
Museum displayes a large collection of cartoons.
The
caricatures were shown at the Chateau Grimaldi between June
and September 1937 in the exhibition “Return from
Elba”, organised by Romuald Dor de la Souchère,
and are now part of the Picasso Museum collection.
This collection
shows that the use of caricature was never so widespread
as in the period 1800 to 1815 in Europe. It
was one of the fields of battle in the war that royalists
and Bonapartists waged.
In 1814, “merchants of novelties” only
showed portraits of Louis 18th and caricatures of Napoleon.
Little by little those disappeared, and portraits of the imperial
family appeared. Then caricatures of Louis 18th and his family
started to circulate under the counter, before once more caricatures
of the Emperor reappeared. The evolution of events can be followed
by looking at the series of etchings on display at the Napoleonic
Museum.
LIST OF ETCHINGS
Voyage to Elba
The despair of big Louis
Imperial strides
Departure and return
The game of Royal Pétengeule with France
Shaking the nose. I swear it smells of violets
The barber of Elba
The Robinson of Elba
They said I had lost my crown, it was in my pocket
A visit to Elba, difficulty with hygiene
I cannot withdraw any more
The bad charge
The Sire = conscript on Elba
The beginning of the end
The scales
That is father's tie
He who grasps at too much, loses everything
Nicolas Philoctète on Elba
Arrival of Napoleon on Elba
Ah, father! You have hurt yourself
That is father's helmet
Jump for the king
