Unique set of three miniatures on ivory was executed in 1810s and was purchased from important noble collection of Napoleonica ( auctionshouse  Hampel, Munich, 2006). . Due to the expertise by the Director of Portrait Miniature Department of renown British auction house Bonhams Mrs. Camilla Lombardi, who visited our gallery in Vienna in 2007 , the first miniature (portrait of Napoleon) is authentical work by one of the best French empire portrait and miniature painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767-1855) and other two portraits of Napoleons allies (King Friedrich I of Wuerttemberg and Great Duke Ludwig I of Hessen) executed by pupils of Isabey.

Jean Baptiste Isabey (1767 - 1855) was one of most important painters of French Empire.. At nineteen, after some lessons from Dumont, miniature painter of Marie Antoinette, he became a pupil of Jacques Louis David. Employed at Versailles on portraits of the dukes of Angoulême and Berry, he was given a commission by the queen, which open the long list of those which he received, up ton the date of his death in 1855, from the successive rulers of France. Patronized by Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte, he arranged the ceremonies of their coronation and prepared drawings for the publication intended as its official commemoration, A work for which he was paid by Louis XVIII, whose portrait (engraved, Debucourt) he executed in 1814. Although Isabey did homage to Napoleon on his return from Elba, he continued to enjoy the favour of the Restoration, and took part in arrangements for the coronation of Charles X. The monarchy of July conferred on him important on post office into connection with the royal collections, and Napoleon III granted him a pension, and the Cross of commander of the Legion of Honor. " Review of Troops by the first Consul" which important one of his most important compositions, and Isabey´ s " Boat, " --a charming drawing of himself and family-produced at a time when he was much occupied with lithography--had to immense success at the salon of 1820 (engraved, Landon, Annales, ith 125). His portrait of " Napoleon on Malmaison" is herd to be the best ever executed, and even his tiny head of the of the king of Rome, painted for a ,breast-pin, is distinguished by a decision and breadth which evidence the hand of a master.

Literature: Thieme/Becker "Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler.."Leipzig, 1999 ;E.Benezit "Dictionnaire des peintres , sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs",Gründ, 1999.

Inscription: unsigned, on the reverse- old label with inscription about portrait sitters and labels with different inventory numbers.

Technique: all three miniatures are gouaches on ivory. Original period gold-plated frame.

Measurements: images of each miniture 1 3/8 " x 2 1/8" (3,5 x 5,3 cm), framed 10 1/4" x 9 1/4 " (26 x 23,5 cm)

Condition: in very good condition.

Price was reduced from 15000 € to 10000 €.