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Ils viennent se bruler à la Chandelle
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| Title | Ils viennent se bruler à la Chandelle |
| Creator | [Elie] |
| Place of Publication | [France -- Paris] |
| Date | [1815] |
| Caption Text | Caption on image:
Ils viennent se bruler à la Chandelle (They're coming to burn themselves at the candle)
Déposés à la Direction Générale (Registered by the French censor)
Signage:
[Below drawing on left] Chambre basse (lower chamber [of deputies])
[At top of rocks] Chambre haute (Upper chamber)
[Bats (clockwise starting at 12:00)]: Garat
Çavarie
Yenne hortence (Queen Hortense)
Sibué
Mouton Duvernes
Feix Lepelletier (Felix Lepelletier, Baron and Prefect of Tarn and Garonne)
Sborie (or Borie) de St. Vincent
Cambon
Lafayette
Thibaudeau
Regnault (or Negnault or Nognault)
Merlin de Douay
La bëdoyer (or bëdoyev)
Dumolar
Manual
Mont St. Jean (N is standing on it)
Moskow (burning onion domes in foreground)
Espagne and Egypte (buried monuments)
Leipsic (bridge fragment)
[Under the collection of bats] Nous mourons sur nos Chaises (We die on our chairs)
[Scroll] : Discour aux deux Chambres (Speech to the two chambers)
….Indépendence
Liberalité (generous gift)
Liberté (liberty)
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| Historical Notes | This drawing satirizes the heated debates in the Chamber of Deputies after Napoleon's return from the defeat at Waterloo. Napoleon is shown on the Mont Saint-Jean, surrounded by skulls and bones testifying to battles he has led (and lost). But he continues to brandish the torch of war, while holding a scroll in his left hand that lists the promises he made to the Chamber of Representatives on his return from Elba; taken together, they show the juxtaposition between Napoleon's republican views as first consul and his despotic use of power as emperor. Napoleon's supporters (his generals and politicians, shown here as bats) are attracted by the light, but burn their wings on the flame and fall into the void. The politicians, all members of the Chamber, lament "we will die on our chairs." Queen Hortense of the Netherlands, labeled a "yenne" (hyena), is shown with sagging breasts and tries to flirt with Napoleon, alluding to the widely-circulated slanderous rumors that there was a sexual relationship between the two (Hortense was his grown step-daughter). Hortense was active in the attempt to have Napoleon's son proclaimed emperor. The inscriptions Espagne (Spain), Moscou (Moscow), Egypt are there to remind the public where Napoleon learned that his power had limits.
Reference Source: Clerc #101, George #12569.
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| Publishing Notes | Published June 1815 (Broadley). Dépot légal August 1, 1815.
Also found in the De Vinck collection (#9577) and the Collection de l'histoire de France, Qb1, June 21, 1815.
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| Subjects (LCSH) | Political cartoons
History--Caricatures & cartoons
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815
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| Geographic Coverage | France |
| Digital Collection | Napoleonic Period Collection
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| Digital ID Number | NAP62 |
| Repository | University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. |
| Repository Collection | Napoleon Collection |
| UW Reference Number | F30 |
| Object Type | Print |
| Physical Description | Etching, hand colored ; plate mark 35 x 27 cm. on sheet 37 x 29 cm. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from original drawing in RGB at 200-400 dpi, saved in TIFF format, changed to indexed color, enhanced and resized using Adobe Photoshop, and imported as JPEG2000 using Contentdm software's JPEG2000 Extension. 2006. |
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