ver, until
the time of the First Empire that David's fame spread. He then reached the
zenith of his success. His masterpieces of this period are "Napoleon
Crossing the Alps"--a canvas on which is founded Hauff's story of "The
Picture of the Emperor"--"The Coronation of Napoleon," "Napoleon in His
Imperial Robes," and the "Distribution of the Eagles." Equally famous is
his portrait of "Madame Recamier resting on a Chaiselongue." After the fall
of the First Empire, David was exiled from France, and retired to
Brussels. David, unlike so many other beneficiaries of the Empire, remained
warmly attached to Napoleon. Once when the Duke of Wellington visited his
studio in Brussels and expressed a wish that the great artist would paint
him, David coldly replied, "I never paint Englishmen." In his declining
years he painted subjects taken from Grecian mythology. Among the paintings
executed by David during his banishment were "Love and Psyche," "The Wrath
of Achilles," and "Mars Disarmed by Venus." The number of David's pupils
who acquired distinction was very great, among whom the best known were
Gros, Gerard, Derdranais Girodet, Jugros, Abel de Pujel and Droming.

1826

[Sidenote: Czar Nicholas' measures]

[Sidenote: Ryleyev and Pestel hanged]

[Sidenote: Russian laws codified]

Driven to assert his rights to the crown by bloodshed, Nicholas I. showed
himself resolved to maintain the absolute principles of his throne. He
accorded a disdainful pardon to Prince Trubetskoi, whom the conspirators of
the capital had chosen as head of the government. The mass of misled
soldiery was likewise treated with clemency. But against the real
instigators of the insurrection the Czar proceeded with uncompromising
severity. One hundred and twenty were deported to Siberia; and the five
foremost men, among whom were Ryleyev, the head of the society in the
north, and Pestel, were condemned to be hanged. All died courageously.
Pestel's chief concern was for his Code: "I am certain," said he, "that one
day Russia will find in this book a refuge against violent commotions. My
greatest error was that I wished to gather the harvest before sowing the
seed." In a way the teachings of these men gave an impetus to Russia that
their death could not destroy. Even the Czar, with his passion for military
autocracy, made it his first care to take up the work of codifying the
Russian laws. Alexis Mikhaielovitch during the next four years turned out