Italy - Milan, (Napoleon); Auber - Entrée des Français dans Milan le 25 Floreal An 4 - 1806

Technical data

Title inscribed: Entry of the French into Milan on 25 Floreal Year 4.
Author / Engravers: Jean Duplessi-Bertaux (1747–1819), executed as an aquaforte (etching). Louis-Joseph Masquelier (1741–1811), completion of the plate in copper engraving.
Designer: Antoine-Charles-Horace Vernet, called Carle Vernet (1758–1836).
Publisher: Auber.
Place: Paris.
Era: 1806. The title bears the date 25 floreal year IV, corresponding to 14 May 1796. Bonaparte’s entry into Milan is generally dated 15 May 1796.
Technique: copper-plate engraving, produced in aquatint and finished in engraving, with hand coloring added afterward, not contemporary.
Support: paper.
Dimensions: plate impression about 25 × 35.5 cm. Sheet about 39 × 54.5 cm.
Composition: single horizontal-format plate, numbered “N° 5” at the top right, with the title and credits inscribed below the scene.
Editorial provenance: Tableaux historiques des campagnes d’Italie depuis l’an IV jusqu’à la bataille de Marengo, Paris, Auber, 1806.
Place depicted: Milan, Lombardy, Italy.
Verso: white.

Description

Historical engraving depicting the entry of the French army into Milan during the first Italian campaign. A monumental gate, inset into the city fortifications, forms the focal point of the composition. On the pediment is the dedication “To the valourous French army,” while groups of spectators follow the troops’ passage from the bastions and the summit of the gate.
In the foreground, riders, soldiers and civilians animate the scene. On the right, the French tricolor rises above the crowd. The contrast between the mass of figures and the wide opening of the sky emphasizes the procession. The hand coloring distinguishes the uniforms, the mounts, and architectural elements, leaving legible the dense hatching of the engraving.

Historical-artistic note

The scene belongs to the cycle devoted to the Italian campaigns, published by Auber in Paris in 1806. Carle Vernet, known for military compositions and equestrian subjects, constructs the episode as a public ceremony. The troops advance toward the gate, while the population occupies both sides of the route and watches from the top of the walls. The credits at the bottom distinguish Vernet’s drawing, Duplessi-Bertaux’s etching, and Masquelier’s completion of the plate.
The episode follows the Battle of Lodi on 10 May 1796 and documents, through the celebratory reading of the cycle, the entry of French forces into the Lombard capital.

Condition Report

Good overall condition. Wide margins and the plate impression clearly recognizable. Foxing scattered, more evident along the right and lower margins. Slight waviness and small creases of the support. Figurative part sharp, with legible coloring. Verso white, with slight tonal variations and sporadic stains.