N. Bonaparte Premier Consul de la République Française

Michelangelo Mercoli

1773 Mugena – 1802 Milan

Stipple engraving after Louis-Albert Bacler-d'Albe. Sheet size: 52.5 x 40.8 cm. T h.B. XXIV, p. 410; De Vinck IV, Nr. 7452.

Brilliant impression, with small margins. Well preserved.

The coup of 18 Brumaire (1799) brought an end to the Directory and allowed Napoleon to assume practically unlimited power over France. The print is notably large-scale, but not quite life size. The image has a sculptural quality and no doubt was meant to invoke memories of marble busts of Roman Emperors.

The address reads: Se vend á Paris chez Bacler Dalber Ingenieur Geographe rue des Moulins No 542 au coin de la rue Therèse.

Bacler d'Albe (1761-1824) was official topographer of the Grande Armée and executed paintings of battles during the Italian campaign in 1797.