World memory: Satirical engravings of the Napoleon era are presented at the Literary Museum in Moscow

Satirical engravings of 1812-1814 on the Napoleonic Wars are presented at the exhibition “From the sublime to the ridiculous one step ...” which opens in the Metropolitan State Literary Museum on August 29, 2012 to the 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812.

Words of Napoleon, which he often used during his escape from Russia, are quoted in the name of the exposition. The basis of the exhibition makes up a collection of satirical engravings from the collection of the Literary Museum. It presents works of Russian and Western European graphic artists of Terebenev, Venetsianov, Ivanov, Schiffler, Gilrey, Geisler, Gauthier and others.

Artists from other countries estimated Napoleon’s activities differently. For example, one of the main topics in Russian works is the feat of the Russian people, as well as the stories, making fun of Bonaparte and his army. Humorous stories were also popular with the British Masters. The German engravings are characterized by appeal to the topic of the stay of Napoleon in exile on the Elba and St. Helena. He presents as “new Robinson” – a sole ruler of desert islands. French papers change their character due to the historical circumstances: from satirical images of Alexander I and his allies to cartoons on his former idol.

The exposition also features formal portraits of the protagonists of the war of 1812 - Emperors of Alexander I and Napoleon Bonaparte, the Russian generals Kutuzov, Bagration, ataman of the Don Cossack Platov, the poet-partisan Davydov.