Jean-Baptiste ISABEY (Nancy, 1767 - Paris, 1855) Portrait of Emperor Napoleon and his second wife Marie-Louise Pair of enamels on gold Annotated on verso: 'NAPOLEON I / EMPEROR / of the French / and KING of ITALY / by Isabey / Painter and Draughtsman of the / Cabinet of S. M. / 18 June / 1811' and 'MARIE / LOUISE / Archbishop of Austria / IMP. of the French / and QUEEN of Italy / by Isabey Painter and / Draughtsman of the Cabinet / of S M. / 6 June / 1811'. (Napoleon: Horizontal accident crossing the face under the eyes) Mounted in a gilt repoussé metal frame, mounted on a plum leather easel on the reverse, signed Alphonse Giroux Père. Total dimensions: 14 x 15 cm Portrait of Emperor Napoleon and his second wife Marie-Louise, enamel on gold, a pair, by J.-B. Isabey 1.49 x 1.06 in. 3.8 x 2.7 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale; London, Sotheby's, 8 June 1987, no. 70 ; Private collection, Sweden Exhibitions : The Memory of Napoleon, 200 years since Waterloo, Rosersberg, Skånelaholm Castle, 2015, p. 23 and 47, no. 21 Henri Clouzot, in his Dictionnaire des miniaturistes sur émail, wrote of Jean-Baptiste Isabey's enamels: "The famous miniaturist painted on enamel, but his works in this genre are very rare".1 From the Pierre Jourdan-Barry collection (1926-2016), a portrait of Joachim Murat, also painted on enamel by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, was sold by us on 27 November 20242. Napoleon and Empress Marie-Louise are shown here wearing the jewellery and outfits they wore on their wedding day. The diamond and ruby diadem and necklace, the work of François-Regnault Nitot, Napoleon's favourite jeweller, are the precious wedding gifts given to Marie Louise in the Biennais jewellery box (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Schatzkammer, WS XIV 153). The young empress wears as a pendant the miniature of Bonaparte set with brilliants, made by Isabey, with which Marshal Berthier had proposed to the young Habsburg princess for Napoleon on 8 March 1810. For a full-length depiction of Napoleon and his wife, we refer to the gouaches on ivory painted by Isabey (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Schatzkammer, WS XIV 148 and WS XIV 149). 1. Henri Clouzot, Dictionnaire des miniaturistes sur émail, Paris, 1924, p. 110. 2. Anonymous sale; Paris, Artcurial, 27 November 2024, no. 65 (sold for €26,240) Jean-Baptiste ISABEY (Nancy, 1767 - Paris, 1855) 3.8 x 2.7 cm