After the Battle: Austerlitz 2 December 1805
This compact box diorama, my first-ever commission (and built as requested to fit on a book shelf) depicts the Emperor at the conclusion of one of the most dramatic days of his life, after his defeat of the combined armies of Austria and Russia near the town of Austerlitz in what is now the Czech Republic. Napoleon offers a pinch of snuff to one of the two devoted Grenadier Guards stationed as pickets outside his campaign tent; the other has been presented with a gift for his son: a model of one of the landing barges intended for the invasion of England. That operation was only abandoned weeks earlier as La Armée d’Angleterre was rechristened La Grande Armée and, in a stunning feat of logistics, marched from its bivouacs in Boulogne into the Austrian Empire to take advantage of two other French enemies foolishly combining forces on one field.
The night before battle, Napoleon toured his troops by the flickering of hundreds of torches. The day started with a good omen as a scarlet glow pierced the mist—what he called “the Sun of Austerlitz.” It ended in what military historians consider his most impressive victory.
The campaign tent is based on one housed in Paris at the Musee de l'armee and a similar one with red trim on display in Italy. The scene is lit by two torches and a small campfire that the pickets have started to ward off the frost. A light snow fell toward the end of the battle, and the temperature dropped precipitously, though Napoleon, as ever, seemed impervious to the weather.
“Soldats! Je suis content de vous” (“Soldiers! I am pleased with you”), the Emperor proclaimed.
Below: Some photos of the box in progress, from a rough sketch through completion.
