Stunning display featuring the signatures of Napoleon Bonaparte and all of his 26 Marshals, for a total of 27 signatures, the only complete set we're aware of to be offered at auction. Set features the very difficult to obtain signatures of Jean Lannes and Jozef Poniatowski. Signatures are matted with a photograph of "The Crossing of the Arcole Bridge", showing a young Napoleon boldly leading his troops at the Battle of Arcole during the War of the First Coalition.
Napoleon personally selected his Marshals, the most elite of all his Generals and limited to only 26 individuals over the course of his rule as Emperor of France. The number of Marshals at any one time never exceeded 20. They included Louis-Nicolas Davout (the "Iron Marshal"), Michel Ney (the "Bravest of the Brave") and Andre Massens ("Dear Child of Victory"), along with the great cavalry leader Joachim Murat, the brilliant tactician Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Napoleon's close friend Jean Lannes, and his chief of staff Louis-Alexandre Berthier. If the story of Napoleon is his military conquests across the European continent at the turn of the 19th century, it cannot be told without his Marshals.
Display measures 32" x 40". Signatures vary in size with Napoleon's measuring approximately 3" x 2". A powerful display, in near fine condition.