French Military, Napoleonic era
NA024 bends forward with one hand close to the face, turning a French officer into a casualty subject rather than a detached commander. The posture gives a small group an interruption that a line of firing figures cannot provide.
NA022 holds the musket level at the shoulder, with the dark coat and pale trousers producing a clean outline. The figure supplies a standing counterpart to the kneeling French riflemen without changing the scene’s direction of action.
NA021 is caught between shots. The angled musket and concentrated hands interrupt the horizontal lines of the French firing figures, adding a practical task to a small infantry scene.
The yellow-green headgear details and shouldered weapon make NA020 easy to pick out among the early French releases. His kneeling position creates a low firing line without concealing the face behind a large scenic obstacle.
NA019 brings a bareheaded corporal low over his weapon, with the discarded headgear visible on the base. The scene is more individual than a standard firing pose and rewards a view from slightly above.
NA015 lowers the weapon toward the space in front of him. The long bayonet and step forward make him a natural bridge between French figures marching into position and those already firing.
NA014 is a French grenadier on the move, carrying his long weapon upright against the shoulder. The red plume, dark coat and white equipment create a strong vertical shape that suits a marching column.
The gold-trimmed coat and high plume give Desaix a commanding presence, but the date carries the central story. He died at Marengo on 14 June 1800, during the fighting that helped secure Bonaparte’s victory.
The dark blue coat, red waistcoat and trousers, and cocked hat give this naval officer a formal eighteenth-century appearance. He is a reminder that Del Prado’s Napoleonic collection also reaches into the revolutionary years that preceded Napoleon’s empire.
The word vélite changes the reading of this miniature. Del Prado’s subject represents a young soldier within a system intended to develop future leaders, rather than simply another battle-hardened Old Guard grenadier.
