A calendar you read, not just check.
Every month pairs a painting with the month it belongs to. David's crossing of the Alps in May, Waterloo in June, the Pyramids in July, Moscow burning in September, the Coronation in December. The date the painting depicts is marked on the grid below it.
Then the page keeps going. Each month carries the painting's full credit and a quotation that actually survives — in a proclamation, a dispatch, a signal log, a will, or the account of someone who was in the room. Nothing attributed, nothing invented. December prints the closing line of the 29th Bulletin, the dispatch that told Paris the Grande Armée had ceased to exist: "The health of His Majesty has never been better."
The grid itself is filled in. 71 dated entries across the year. Battles, treaties, coups, coronations, abdications, and every federal holiday.
December carries the same date twice. Napoleon was crowned Emperor at Notre-Dame on December 2nd, 1804, and broke the Austro-Russian army at Austerlitz on December 2nd, 1805 — one year apart to the day. Both are marked on a single page.
The year runs from Toulon in 1793, where an unknown artillery captain first took command, to St Helena in 1821. It opens on David's Crossing the Alps and closes on Waterloo.
More than a date-keeping tool: a year-long almanac of the wars that remade Europe, on a wall-sized sheet you'll actually stop and read.
Product Features:
- Large 14" x 11.5" format with room for the paintings to breathe.
- Every federal holiday pre-marked, plus 71 historical dates.
- Full painting credits — title and artist.
- Twelve sourced quotations, one per month.
- Anniversary date marked on each month's grid.
- A complete 2027 month grid with generous writing space.
Events and Paintings Showcased:
January: The Battle of Rivoli - January 14th, 1797 (The Battle of Rivoli, Félix Philippoteaux)
February: The Six Days Campaign opens at Champaubert - February 10th, 1814 (French Campaign, Ernest Meissonier)
March: The Battle of Paris - March 30th, 1814 (The Barrier of Clichy, Horace Vernet)
April: Farewell to the Old Guard - April 20th, 1814 (Napoleon's Farewell to the Imperial Guard, Antoine Alphonse Montfort)
May: Crossing the Great St. Bernard Pass - May 20th, 1800 (Napoleon Crossing the Alps, Jacques-Louis David)
June: The Battle of Waterloo - June 18th, 1815 (Wellington at Waterloo, Robert Alexander Hillingford)
July: The Battle of the Pyramids - July 21st, 1798 (The Battle of the Pyramids, Antoine-Jean Gros)
August: The Battle of the Nile - August 1st, 1798 (HMS Majestic at the Battle of the Nile, Charles Edward Dixon)
September: The Burning of Moscow - September 15th, 1812 (Napoleon in Burning Moscow, Albrecht Adam)
October: The Battle of Leipzig - October 16th, 1813 (The Battle of Leipzig, Alexander Sauerweid)
November: The Coup of 18 Brumaire - November 9th, 1799 (General Bonaparte in the coup d'état, François Bouchot)
December: The Coronation and Austerlitz - December 2nd, 1804 and 1805 (The Coronation of Napoleon, Jacques-Louis David)
