Among a staff blazing with gold lace and plumes, Napoleon dressed deliberately plainly — the undress green coat of a colonel of Chasseurs, or in the field the grey redingote and small black bicorne shown here. The simplicity was calculated: it let any soldier in the line pick out the Emperor at a glance, and it became the most recognizable silhouette in Europe. The 1812–15 years this figure marks were his hardest — the catastrophe of the Russian retreat, where a Grande Armée of more than 600,000 was reduced to a frozen remnant by the crossing of the Berezina in November 1812, then the defense of France and the final gamble of 1815.

The figure stands in a moment of thought — the grey redingote falling to the boot, the bicorne worn corner-forward, one hand on the hip and the other resting on his sword hilt. It is Napoleon the campaigner rather than the coronation Emperor, dressed as the men in the ranks actually saw him. Build a review or campaign scene around him: set the cheering ranks of a Vive l'Empereur Cheering Imperial Guard before him, post the French Imperial Guard Eagle at his side, and have an Imperial Guard at Present Arms render honors.

W. Britain model 36220. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.