 |
| Murat by Gerard |
I don't paint a lot of commercially available figures but as soon as I saw this 54mm figure a few years ago I knew I had to have it as I love doing Napoleonic personalities based on paintings and I love hussar uniforms. Its a repro of a famous portrait of Murat by Gerard. The figure was sculpted by A. Laruccia. The painting is currently housed in the Musee de Versailles. Who could resist painting a portrait of Murat.Joachim Murat was Napoleon's most famous cavalry commander and was married to Napoleon's sister. Based on nepotism and his military successes, Murat was made King of Naples by Napoleon. The painting shows him in the uniform of a light cavalry general, perhaps of the Neopolitan Guard.
Murat was the Herman Goering of his day: overly confident and flamboyant; ambitious; fond of cosmetics and of designing his own show-off uniforms; leader of a critical arm of his master's military forces; and a member of the inner circle who ultimately let his leader down.The model is true to the painting and includes Murat's boy servant holding his master's colpack (fur cap). The sculptor did a great job in turning the 2D portrait into a 3D rendering.
Murat was born into the family of an innkeeper. During the French Revolution he entered the army, and soon became a colonel. He served under Napoleon in Italy and in Egypt, rose to be a general of division (1799), returned with Napoleon to France, and on 18th Brumaire (9 November 1799) dispersed the Council of Five Hundred at St. Cloud. Napoleon gave him his sister, Caroline, in marriage. In command of the cavalry at the Battle of Marengo, Murat covered himself with glory, and in 1801 was nominated Governor of the Cisalpine Republic. He contributed to the victories of Austerlitz (1805), Jena and Eylau; in 1806 he was made the Grand Duke of Berg, and in 1808 he was proclaimed King of two Sicilies as Joachim Napoleon. He took possession of the Kingdom Naples (encompassing most of hte southern half of Italy, though the Bourbons, supported by Britain, retained Sicily, and he won the hearts of his subjects. 
In the Russian campaign he commanded all of the cavalry, and indeed, the whole army after Napoleon left it during the retreat from Mosclow. He crushed the Austrians at Dresden (1813), fought at Leipzig, and concluded a treaty with Austria and truce with aBritish admiral; but on Napoleon’s escape from Elba, he threw his weight behind Napoleon again and commenced war against Austria and was twice defeated. With a few horsemen he fled to Naples, and thence to France. Napoleon rejected his services for the Waterloo campaign due to his fury at Murat for launching an attack on Austria before Napoleon was ready. There is a school of thought that, had Murat rather than Ney commanded the cavalry at Waterloo, the outcome may well have been very different.
After Napoleon’s final overthrow, Murat proceeded with a few followers to the coast of Calabria, and proclaimed himself king; but he was captured by some customs officers and a mob, court-martialed and shot by firing squad.
