Imperial Anarchy

Nothing special, just history, drawings of historical figures in some… er… non-canonical relationships and fun! 🥂

[count-lero]

Oh, hello there…

After all these years I have the slightest clue about anything that’s been happening with the Napoleonic community here on Tumblr, even though I use this blog searching for fandom stuff from time to time. The only reason I want to break my gloomy silence is the 255th anniversary of a historical figure I was very fond of and still am today. It marks the surge of my interest in the Austrian state of affairs and history of the Habsburg monarchy as a whole that befell me five years ago.

Here’s a sketch of the birthday man I never finished. 🎉

Fortunately, I drew Schwarzenberg on so many occasions back in the days that I have quite a collection of artwork on my hands. Another pretext to showcase some of them for the hundredth time.

Don’t know if there’s going to be more posts from me in the nearest future. I have a bunch of fascinating findings to share and reminisce upon but I’ve been somewhat depressed and detached living through the major historical events of our time. Many things happened, positive changes and sad instances alike. For the most part I lost my creative spark in the process but there still is so much to explore and live through. Not sure if going back to constantly posting on social networks is one of them, though! 💫

À bientôt (?).

[thoodleoo]

be kind to historians. they do a thankless job, digging through layers and layers of artifacts, letters, and dates, only to be told that their work is not as important as others’. their paper-cut hands don’t seem impressive to most, the sign of the leisurely scholar. but they carry the burden of mankind’s memory- shepherds of souls, they rescue the lost from lethe’s devouring streams. the doctor may scoff, the engineer laugh, the physicist sneer. yet no one has found immortality’s secret except the historians, who delve into textbooks and bring people back to life.

be kind to historians. they are a sensitive, though not fragile, sort. they have wept for those whom they can never meet, for those who have been dust for centuries before our time. in some ways these lives are meaningless to them, vague shadows of people who once walked upon the earth, perhaps something like the people we know them as, perhaps not. time snatches some details away, corrupts others. but the historians collect them all and say, you were a person once. let us get know you as best as we can.

be kind to historians. they are, as schlegel once wrote, like prophets in reverse. they cannot predict the future, not exactly; their knowledge is of the past. but unlike normal prophets, historians can explain their myriad visions. old happenings become not whats and whens but whys, and the historians tell us their tales of the past with an eye toward the future. they cannot exactly say what will happen, but they warn us of what might, looking where nobody else will to keep us as safe as they can.

yes, be kind to historians. because they are kind to us.

[michel-feuilly]

Hamlet starring Gustaf Gründgens

Gründgens was the first German actor to show Hamlet as a warrior and fighter, rather than as an indecisive little boy. I like it.

[count-lero]

The latest reenactment also granted me a gift by the hands of an exceptionally talented person who made wonderful photos of me in the “historical” garments I wear at events as such.

I’m definitely not a big fan of military life-style and discipline in an actual reenactment camp. And since there aren’t much people in civilian attires from the respective time period (they are present nonetheless), I’m glad to participate and fill up the ranks! 🎩

Unfortunately, sewing skills were never my forte, so the most important pieces of the attire were made by a professional seamstress who has a lot of experience in historical clothings. The garments aren’t perfect - far from it: I myself couldn’t properly track all the things that had to be done or mended, so it is what it is. But the colours I chose seem not bad at all. 💙🩷

(And yes, when it came to camera angles, we took direct inspiration from Caspar David Friedrich - how could we not, when the scenery was perfect for that!)

***

There’re also these close-up photos I took spontaneously which I really like despite them being a bit messy and imperfect.

What a shame for a proper Austrian gentleman on duty among the French troops! 🤫

[count-lero]

Some more Borodino photos (and a video) I managed to sort out. ❤️💙

[count-lero]

Annual visit to the Borodino field was quite pleasant this year because of extremely mild weather - with the sole exception of a day, when it was raining cats and dogs…

However, unfortunate circumstances sometimes have a bright side too. In this case the rain in the afternoon caused thick fog to appear at dusk which turned the whole landscape into a majestic dream. 🌅

[michel-feuilly]

Farewell to the Dnieper

[count-lero]

Something’s cooking - slowly but surely. ✨

[yaggy031910]

This needed to be done after the very nice conversation about Bagration I had with @galakteon and @peachboy0101001

[count-lero]

Wow, people are really talking about all of Metternich’s love affairs, haha!

It seems, this topic tends to reoccur once in a while and it’s quite fascinating to observe, what others have to say or create based on the subject. Such as excellent memes! 😁

*Laure and Jean-Andoche Junot definitely have to make an appearance as well ✨*

[count-lero]

So, it was my birthday yesterday but I had no time to go on the Internet due to having too much fun. Still I’d appreciate reposts of some of my most favourite artwork as I am a drawing person after all. :)

I don’t finish as much pieces as I once could, yet the process is always captivating. ❤️

[count-lero]

Grandpa’s gift

There is an incredibly fascinating artistic detail that haunts me after some person posted their astute observations on the Internet and I would love to share it with you!

So, we have this illustration from a book “Life of Napoleon Bonaparte” by William Milligan Sloane (1896). Here we can see Napoleon visiting his son in a timeframe close to spring of 1813, when it became obvious that his larger political allies proved to be good for nothing and were probably going to leave him soon. Napoleon is shown deep in his thoughts holding a hand of his beloved son and looking at something far beyond our reach…

Or is he?

Speculations can be made that he actually has his attention on the toy soldiers present in a foreground of the picture.

While a cannon can be more than rightfully considered Napoleon’s own symbol, these toy soldiers do not represent any French troops. It’s possible to discern their tall hats but those are not bear hats of the Old guard, for sure.

They probably are the hats of Imperial (Austrian) grenadiers from the period of the Revolutionary wars. You can even notice red lining and cuffs being parts of their snowy-white coats.

Even if it was somewhat of a tradition to gift toy soldiers representing military units of relatively “old times”, an air of symbolism may also surround such a choice of troops. You know, that symbolism straight from those times when Imperial forces hadn’t yet suffered critical blows from the renewed French army and thought of themselves as fighters for truth and Habsburg’s justice.

So yeah. What a meaningful gift from a caring grandfather to his grandson it could be~ 🤭

(I’m also able to imagine how prince Schwarzenberg himself could have delivered this exact gift to Marie Louise, when he came to Paris as a diplomat once more and it literally gives me goose bumps. I love such small but significant imaginary plots with all my heart. ❤️)

[yallemagne]

Awkward family photos but it’s Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary and Wilhelm II of Prussia.

[kkukolka]

HAHAHAH I love these memes,✨ who made these needs an Oscar 👏

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

@archduchessofnowhere your gonna love these! 😭✨💀😂

[count-lero]

Good time of day to you, ladies and gentlemen!

So, I made a promise in April that I never kept because of how insecure I felt about it for a long period of time. However, now I’m more than knowledgeable in terms of the subject and ready to full fill with immense pleasure that old pledge of mine. ✨

This post is dedicated to @microcosme11 and @usergreenpixel, since you’ve shown great interest in my proposition in the first place. :)

It all started with the discovery of a film “Hundert Tage” released in the year 1935. Its name speaks for itself as the movie covers Napoleon’s famous return from Elba in 1815 up to the battle of Waterloo. What’s fairly surprising is that Joseph Fouché, notorious ex-minister of police with many other regalia earned through the years of serving many masters, played a significant role in the plot (as he did in real life), despite usually having a somewhat ghostly presence in other pieces of Napoleonic media. In the “Hundert Tage” he is more than an active political player portrayed by Gustaf Gründgens, prominent German theater and film actor with his background being too controversial to ever make a non-biased sense of…

Anyhow, the thing is: the impersonation of Fouché wasn’t the first “Napoleonic” role Gründgens ever tried on during his artistic career. Exactly a year before that another film of Austrian (!) production was made where he starred in a role which suits his appearance and play style so well that I’m still blown away by such an impeccable choice.

The original title of the film is “So Endete eine Liebe” (1934) and it deals with the tragic story of erzherzogin Marie Louise, future wife of emperor Napoleon, being separated from her true love for the sake of an advantageous marriage and political alliance. The film cast is mainly Austro-German with two leading performers being Willi Forst, one of the most prominent Austrian actors in the 20th century, playing archduke Franz von Modena, and fore mentioned Gustaf Gründgens, an actor who was also born in the Westphalian region of Germany, playing… Klemens von Metternich in all his mischievous glory. 💅✨

The film itself is not friendly to people who aren’t ready to face the complexity of Habsburg’s incest-flavoured dramas at their finest (I myself wasn’t aware of the infatuation that Marie-Louise had for her uncle, if it ever took place at all [and I’m too lazy to check any decent biography about her to find out what did happen exactly]). BUT, but Gründgens’ Metternich is something else.

With due awareness and respect. 🧎‍♂️

This role was made for him, no doubt: even the film and its actors show appreciation for his grace at the first opportunity given. 😁

[microcosme11]

Thank you so much @count-lero! Awesome! I’ll have to see it even if I understand only some words.

[josefavomjaaga]

Thank you for sharing, @count-lero​. 💖

I am blissfully unaware of any films made in Germany during the 30s and intend to remain that, so I have no clue about the movie’s content or intention. As to

I myself wasn’t aware of the infatuation that Marie-Louise had for her uncle

according to the first volume of “Metternich und die Frauen”, the infatuation was mostly inspired by the empress and her entourage, because Metternich’s plans of trying to arrange a marriage with Napoleon were resurfacing, and everybody tried to marry off Marie Louise as quickly as possible, just to get her out of harm’s way. Also, I understand Franz was Marie Louise’s uncle by marriage only (though they were of course still closely related otherwise), so it’s not much different from Louis Bonaparte marrying Hortense de Beauharnais. (It is also to be noted that at one point there may have been ideas in the Bonaparte family for Napoleon to marry Lucien’s oldest daughter, so it’s not as if this kind of thing happened only within the Habsburg family.)

[count-lero]

Thank you so much for your commentary, @josefavomjaaga! 🙏

I see… The waring parties at Austrian court strike again!

Klemens used the trump card he thought out at the moment but his actions couldn’t have passed unnoticed by others, as they tried to prevent his “cruel deeds” from coming to life. X)

[count-lero]

Good time of day to you, ladies and gentlemen!

So, I made a promise in April that I never kept because of how insecure I felt about it for a long period of time. However, now I’m more than knowledgeable in terms of the subject and ready to full fill with immense pleasure that old pledge of mine. ✨

This post is dedicated to @microcosme11 and @usergreenpixel, since you’ve shown great interest in my proposition in the first place. :)

It all started with the discovery of a film “Hundert Tage” released in the year 1935. Its name speaks for itself as the movie covers Napoleon’s famous return from Elba in 1815 up to the battle of Waterloo. What’s fairly surprising is that Joseph Fouché, notorious ex-minister of police with many other regalia earned through the years of serving many masters, played a significant role in the plot (as he did in real life), despite usually having a somewhat ghostly presence in other pieces of Napoleonic media. In the “Hundert Tage” he is more than an active political player portrayed by Gustaf Gründgens, prominent German theater and film actor with his background being too controversial to ever make a non-biased sense of…

Anyhow, the thing is: the impersonation of Fouché wasn’t the first “Napoleonic” role Gründgens ever tried on during his artistic career. Exactly a year before that another film of Austrian (!) production was made where he starred in a role which suits his appearance and play style so well that I’m still blown away by such an impeccable choice.

The original title of the film is “So Endete eine Liebe” (1934) and it deals with the tragic story of erzherzogin Marie Louise, future wife of emperor Napoleon, being separated from her true love for the sake of an advantageous marriage and political alliance. The film cast is mainly Austro-German with two leading performers being Willi Forst, one of the most prominent Austrian actors in the 20th century, playing archduke Franz von Modena, and fore mentioned Gustaf Gründgens, an actor who was also born in the Westphalian region of Germany, playing… Klemens von Metternich in all his mischievous glory. 💅✨

The film itself is not friendly to people who aren’t ready to face the complexity of Habsburg’s incest-flavoured dramas at their finest (I myself wasn’t aware of the infatuation that Marie-Louise had for her uncle, if it ever took place at all [and I’m too lazy to check any decent biography about her to find out what did happen exactly]). BUT, but Gründgens’ Metternich is something else.

With due awareness and respect. 🧎‍♂️

This role was made for him, no doubt: even the film and its actors show appreciation for his grace at the first opportunity given. 😁

[microcosme11]

Thank you so much @count-lero! Awesome! I’ll have to see it even if I understand only some words.

[count-lero]

You’re always welcome! Wish you a pleasant watch. 🤗

I’ve already watched this film more than 5 times - still don’t understand a lot of things, since I’m not fluent in German as well. But I’m definitely going to make more posts about this movie focusing on most brilliant and witty parts from it. :)

[count-lero]

Good time of day to you, ladies and gentlemen!

So, I made a promise in April that I never kept because of how insecure I felt about it for a long period of time. However, now I’m more than knowledgeable in terms of the subject and ready to full fill with immense pleasure that old pledge of mine. ✨

This post is dedicated to @microcosme11 and @usergreenpixel, since you’ve shown great interest in my proposition in the first place. :)

It all started with the discovery of a film “Hundert Tage” released in the year 1935. Its name speaks for itself as the movie covers Napoleon’s famous return from Elba in 1815 up to the battle of Waterloo. What’s fairly surprising is that Joseph Fouché, notorious ex-minister of police with many other regalia earned through the years of serving many masters, played a significant role in the plot (as he did in real life), despite usually having a somewhat ghostly presence in other pieces of Napoleonic media. In the “Hundert Tage” he is more than an active political player portrayed by Gustaf Gründgens, prominent German theater and film actor with his background being too controversial to ever make a non-biased sense of…

Anyhow, the thing is: the impersonation of Fouché wasn’t the first “Napoleonic” role Gründgens ever tried on during his artistic career. Exactly a year before that another film of Austrian (!) production was made where he starred in a role which suits his appearance and play style so well that I’m still blown away by such an impeccable choice.

The original title of the film is “So Endete eine Liebe” (1934) and it deals with the tragic story of erzherzogin Marie Louise, future wife of emperor Napoleon, being separated from her true love for the sake of an advantageous marriage and political alliance. The film cast is mainly Austro-German with two leading performers being Willi Forst, one of the most prominent Austrian actors in the 20th century, playing archduke Franz von Modena, and fore mentioned Gustaf Gründgens, an actor who was also born in the Westphalian region of Germany, playing… Klemens von Metternich in all his mischievous glory. 💅✨

The film itself is not friendly to people who aren’t ready to face the complexity of Habsburg’s incest-flavoured dramas at their finest (I myself wasn’t aware of the infatuation that Marie-Louise had for her uncle, if it ever took place at all [and I’m too lazy to check any decent biography about her to find out what did happen exactly]). BUT, but Gründgens’ Metternich is something else.

With due awareness and respect. 🧎‍♂️

This role was made for him, no doubt: even the film and its actors show appreciation for his grace at the first opportunity given. 😁

[michel-feuilly]

I really ship it

I am very inspired by their hatred and respect for each other 🙏🏻

[count-lero]

Pride Month is inevitably coming to an end and it’s a real shame that I was unable to make any artistic input during this wonderful time of the year. 🏳️‍🌈

The only thing I can contribute at last is this drawing which is three months old already but I always struggle with sharing historical ship-content on this account, as it seems inappropriate in a way. 'Cause you know: all the fascinating/gorgeous/serious/funny historical stuff and then that…

It doesn’t really stop me from loving various Napoleonic rare-pairs with all my heart nonetheless. 😔🤲❤️

Disclaimer: Most of historical characters featured on such arts were undoubtedly straight, had wives, kids, mistresses, etc. But ship-dynamic is very real - as always. ✨