AFTER BARON FRANÇOIS GÉRARD (1770-1837), ATTRIBUTED TO GEORGE C. LAMBDIN (1830-1896)

This portrait is a close copy of the portrait of Napoléon's son, Napoléon Charles François Joseph Bonaparte, duc de Reichstadt, prince impérial, roi de Rome (1811-1832), in the collections of the Palace of Versailles since 1841 (inv. no. MV 4707). The Versailles portrait is an early replica attributed to Baron François Gérard (1770-1837) or his studio of the original by Gérard sent to Napoléon during the Russian Campaign in 1812 and presumed destroyed. Another early replica by Gérard is in the collections of the Chateau de Fountainebleu, but minor variations between the two, such as the terminus of the scepter, suggest that Lambdin copied the version at Versailles.