Lot 68: HEINRICH ANTON DAHLING (Hanover 1773-1850 Potsdam)

Napoleon Bonaparte, 1 s t Emperor of France, entering the city of Berlin at the Brandenberg Gate; and Napoleon Bonaparte receiving the keys to the city of Berlin from the Prince of Hatzfeld oil on canvas 19 x 263/4 in. (48 x 68 cm.) a pair PROVENANCE Bernard Franck; his sale, H“tel Drouot, Paris, 22-23 February 1935, lots 69 and 71. NOTES This pair of paintings records the entry of Napoleon into Berlin on 27 October 1806. According to labels on the reverse of each composition, the first depicts General Hulin, the commander of the French forces in Berlin, leading the Emperor and his officers -- among them Berthier, Davout, Lefebvre, Auguereau, Durse and Caulincourt -- into the city. The second shows Hulin introducing to Napoleon the Prince of Hatzfeld, who, as head of the municipality of Berlin, handed over the keys to the city to the Emperor. Increasingly concerned with the French influence spreading over the minor German states, Prussia formed a coalition with Great Britain and Russia and declared war on the French on 7 October 1806. The war - known as the War of the Fourth Coalition - was brief: on 8 October Napoleon launched a surprise invasion of Prussia and defeated the Prussian army at Iena and Auerstadt just six days later. On 27 October, the Emperor rode triumphantly into Berlin, passing under the Brandenburg Gate. Vivant Denon, Director of the Mus‚e Napoleon, accompanied the French army on the campaign and ordered that the Quadrige atop the gate be taken to Paris and placed outside the new Madeleine, a temple 'in the Greek style' erected to the glory of the Grande Arm‚e . The chariot and horses appear to have been left at Versailles and, in 1814, the statue group was seized by the Prussian Army and taken back to Berlin, where it was to become a symbol of national identity, freedom and victory. The present pair are in Empire frames. SALESROOM NOTICE Please note that there are 19th-century labels identifying the subject and artist on the stretcher of each painting.