As very few prints are seen of Napoleon in Coronation robes, perhaps the illusion will not be so striking as it would have been had I chosen to represent him wearing his well-known hat. I preferred however to represent a less hackneyed picture.
NAPOLEON
Diderot. I have seen him on his throne.
Barbeillon. Was it wonderful?
Diderot. Wonderful! He looks like a baby swaddled in glory, sitting on his high chair.
Barbeillon. Well?
Diderot. It was wonderfully pitiful and pitifully wonderful. So terribly final. There he sat like a bad boy who had stolen the toyshop. He knows that no new thing may be created, so he sifts the old, and selecting the best puts them together as children build with blocks.
He assembles with a perfection which sickens. Triumphant arch or wedding trousseau is arranged with equal facility.
Barbeillon. How was he dressed?