"Dead of Marshal Lannes" Topic

Superb!

From here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Title should be "The death of Marshal Lannes" (translated from French)

a superb diorama but one of the saddest moments in the Napoleonic age. lannes war to me a larger than life hero.

Thanks Dave

Dave

I am sure Armand does his best translating from French to Spanish and then into English.

I am sure you meant well, maybe I am reading your short comment a little too harshly, but a "Well done, thank you for bringing such an amazing diorama to our attention." would have made your comment sound less pernickety.

Very well done! Nice find Armand!

That's well done, in those days all soldiers were at risk in battle no matter the rank, so very poignant.
Cheers

Happy you enjoyed it boys!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Armand does a great job. I enjoy his posts. Don't read anything in there that isn't there. I'm sure he's adult enough he doesn't have to be molly-coddled.

Nice diorama. All it's missing is blood-soaked ground.

I think that when Marshal Lannes was "presented" to Napoleon for his last "adieu" maybe he was in that maner.

But by memory, he suffered amputation of both legs and in some moment he seems he can survived.

Amicalement
Armand

When he died both legs were amputated.
Also he died some days after the battle so he wouldn't have lied on a stretcher and probably no corpses lying around.
But nice diorama nonetheless but not historical I think

Tango: Ditto to what Marcel1809 said above. I have a small 25mm diorama of this incident but nothing so grand as the one above. Thanks for posting the photos. John Miller

Glad you enjoyed it John! (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Napoleon first met the mortally wounded Lannes after he had had one leg amputated and before he had the other amputated. This happened at the crossing point between Lobau island and the Mühlau salient. Lannes was transported back to Kaiserebersdorf. Napoleon visited him often before he died.

Looking at the picture the figures are based on, the scene could never have taken place in or around a building as it happened at Larry's field station. Interestingly, the artist has included Bessières. There was no love lost between the two marshals. They nearly drew swords on one another the previous day followed by an obvious silence over supper.

Bessieres:

Perhaps even the worst rival and antagonist would show a bit of respect to a mortally wounded comrade. It would be a real cad who did not.

Totally agree.

Veterans of Napleon Era like those brave men never los respect for courageous comrades.

Sometimes… in modern era too.

Amicalement
Armand

I was searching for an earlier thread and stumbled across this one, hence the very late post.

I do think that diorama is wonderfully done, and very evocative, just as it is. Sometimes historical accuracy is not always as effective as a visual presentation like this diorama that appeals far more to the emotions, and with a more lasting effect. Kudos to whoever did this!

I have a friend who is an expert modeler who made, from scratch, a scale model of the Essling granary for me, authentic down to the roof tiles and and pockmarks i the stonework. Amazing to picture muskets bristling from every window of that structure.

Over the years I've gotten quite used to the "death scene" being the one, usually post-amputation, where we have Naps and others present. As a couple of you mentioned, the real death scene nine days later was not dramatic by anyone's standards, and Larrey's bridgehead filed station a better locale than the cramped upstairs bedroom in the brewer's little house.

I also think it is quite possible Bessieres could have been present, as in the picture above. True about the duel, but not, I think, about silence over supper, since no one was sitting down for a meal that night. Bessieres was also one of the witnesses to Lannes' second wedding in September 1800, and while they did shout at each other from time to time--just as Lannes and Murat did--they got over it quickly enough.

And lastly, according to his memoirs, and the letters to his wife that are in the Wellcome Library in London, Larrey only amputated once and, in retrospect, thought he acted too hastily.

Sorry for rambling on so late in the game.

MaggieC70: I enjoyed your comments, I was aware of the bad blood but didn't know Bessieres was a witness at the wedding. I would love to be able to see those letters. I have a little 25mm "diorama" of the death scene, which I am very fond of, inaccuracies notwithstanding. Thanks, John Miller

Great model and you have to admire the skill of the model maker. But I wonder if the model actually suggests that the leg may not have been amputated at that location, since the amputated limb is not present within the scene. I know the limb is not shown in the painting either and I'm not trying to sound gory. I just wondered if this scene depicts Larry changing, or had recently changed, the dressing before Lannes was moved on to somewhere else? Perhaps just after the limb had been removed? Anyway, I hope I don't sound too gory. It is just a thought.

Wow~!

Nice! Thanks for posting.

Glad you like it my friend.

Amicalement
Armand