Andrea APPIANI (Milan 1754-1817)

Andrea APPIANI (Milan 1754-1817)
Portrait of General Junot (1771-1813) Walnut
panel, one plank, not parquet flooring.
27.5 x 20.3 cm
On the back an inscription: made by / andrée appiani in Milan year 5. Carved and gilded wooden
frame, Italian work of the late 18th century.
Shown as a three-quarter bust facing left, against a landscape background, on the left is a battle scene.
Nicknamed "The Storm", the French general Jean-Andoche Junot (1771-1813) met a tumultuous fate. Engaged from the Revolution in the volunteer battalion of the Côte d'Or, he was wounded in 1792 by a sword blow to the head during the battle of the Glisuelle in the department of the North. It was during the siege of Toulon in 1793 that he met the artillery commander Bonaparte, of whom he became secretary.
He took an active part in the Italian campaign, in the battles of Arcole, Lodi, Castiglione and Tagliamento. He
distinguished himself at the battle of Millesimo during which he was aide-de-camp. He is wearing the white and
red armband of this function tied to his left arm. At the battle of Lonato in 1797, he was wounded in the left temple. In the
years that followed, the scar kept reopening, so much so that, according to the Memoirs of Laure Pernom,
Duchess of Abrantes and wife of Junot, every stroke of the comb put her at risk of bleeding. It was
probably for this reason and perhaps even to hide this scar that Junot let his hair
grow into a large red mane as we can see in this painting dated 1796-1797. He then
left for the Egyptian Campaign in May 1798.
Gradually, Junot's excesses began to worry the Emperor. Refusing him the title of marshal, he disgraced
him and sent him away from the capital on several occasions, sending him to Lisbon as early as 1805. Finally losing what
was left of his reason due to a tactical error during the Russian campaign in 1812, Junot returned to
France where he took his own life in 1813.
Andrea Appiani, leader of Italian neoclassicism, met Bonaparte during the first Italian campaign
in 1796. Multiplying the effigies of the General, then the
First Consul and finally the Emperor, the artist came to Paris, between the end of 1804 and the beginning of 1805, to attend the Coronation.
At the time of our portrait, the model is indeed in Milan.

We would like to thank Mr. Fernando Mazzocca for confirming the authenticity of the painting from a digital photograph by e-mail on December 11, 2019. Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.