George Sand Convie Delacroix on the return of Napoleon's ashes.

[Eugène Delacroix] George Sand (1804.1876)

Autograph letter signed to Eugène Delacroix.

A page in-4°. Autograph address.

Lack on the 4th ^leaflet , without damage to the text.

[Paris, December 14, 1840]

“ We have two tickets for the interior of the Invalides. […] Mourning is essential. »»

George Sand Convie Delacroix to attend the ceremony for the return of the ashes of Napoleon I ^, to the Invalides.

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“Dear friend, we have two tickets for the interior of the Invalides. Maurice will take it to you tomorrow morning and you will go together. Cars will be able to circulate until then tomorrow, for a police route that we also have. Mauritius will therefore be at home at 8:00 am. Mourning is essential. We will wear pancake for both of you. - I think we will have to be returned around 10 a.m. If you don't have the patience to wait, at least you will see the church. Good evening, don't get crushed and have fun if you can. To you of heart. George. If you don't want to go, make Mauritius say by your good one to go for a walk . »»

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Died in Sainte-Hélène on May 5, 1821, Napoleon was buried in the British island where his body rested for nineteen years. The emperor had asked, in a codicille written on April 16, 1821, to rest in the land of France. It was in 1840 that King Louis-Philippe obtained from England the restitution of his body.

On December 15, 1840, an icy cold reigned in Paris. Thousands of French people nevertheless flock around the avenue des Champs-Élysées to accommodate the monumental funeral chariot more than ten meters high which leads the fallen emperor to his last home. The procession, in the middle of an incredible popular enthusiasm, slowly descends the most beautiful avenue in the world. The bells sound, the drums are unleashed, the cannon tonne, cries spring from the crowd: "Long live the emperor!" ».

The tank, harnessed to sixteen horses and followed by veterans of the armies of the Republic and the Empire, crosses the Arc de Triomphe. It takes several hours in the procession to reach the invalids.

The coffin, surrounded by the flags of Austerlitz, is worn inside the chapel where hundreds of thousands will come, the following days, to meditate in front of the coffin bearing the imperial crown of Charlemagne and the diadem of Laurier d'or de César.

Victor Hugo left a very beautiful report of this memorial day in things seen : “Lafayette is forgotten, while Napoleon is still alive. Lafayette was just a date. Napoleon is a genius. »»

Hugo followed the procession of the procession, outside, by a cold of -14º. We do not know if Delacroix accepted the invitation of George Sand and if he attended this ceremony.

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Origin :

Achille Piron (Universal legatee of Delacroix)

Marc Loliée Library

Bibliography:

George Sand - Correspondence , Lubin, t. V, pp. 183-184.

Sand Delacroix - Correspondence , ed. Françoise Alexandre.