Completed Nicolas-Charles Oudinot

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Nap

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Joined
Aug 7, 2006
Messages
41,278
Location
Beautiful Bampton, Devon
Hi everyone

Next on my bench will be a old Verlinden bust othat arrived mysteriously in the post a while back from a PF guy called "Leggey" aka Daddy0 ...big thanks to him for the donation to the help "Busty" funds

Here is the box art ....I am hoping mine might be a little dare I say better ...this will be a straight paint nothing added as he has a couple of chest bling already

X.jpg WIP Verlinden Oudinot.jpgWIP Ouidnot.jpg

Bit of background

Nicolas-Charles Oudinot was born on April 25, 1767 in Bar-le-Duc in the Lorraine. In 1784 at the age of 17, he attempted to escape from his father's brewery by joining an infantry regiment, but his father soon forced him to return to the nest.

The Revolution allowed him to leave for good. He enlisted in the National Guard, became a Captain in a temporary unit on July 14, 1789 and the Lieutenant Colonel of a regiment of volunteers in 1791.

He was promoted to chef de brigade (Colonel) for his defence of the city of Bitche in November 1793.

One month later, Oudinot received the first in a series of thirty-two injuries making him the most ill-fated Marshal.

He returned to the army four months later distinguishing himself by forcing his way through enemy ranks at Kaiserslautern (May 1794) with his bayonet. Promoted to Brigadier General, he commanded the city of Trier (Germany) for several months due to another injury. He returned to combat in October 1795 only to received five sabre wounds and bullet injury in the same day.

Captured by the enemy, he was freed in January 1796. Several injuries later, he was named général de division (Major General) in April 1799 and transferred to the Swiss Army under the command of André Masséna where he distinguished himself at once at Zurich. Later, he again served under Masséna as Chief of Staff during the Second Italian Campaign. He celebrated Christmas in 1800, during the Battle of the Mincio River, by capturing an Austrian canon.

After the armistice, Nicolas-Charles Oudinot became Inspector General of the Infantry and then of the Cavalry as well.

When the Grande Armée was formed, he took command of a division of grenadiers, but a bullet to his leg forced him to relinquish his command at the beginning of the campaign (October 1805).

He was injured again in May 1807 when he broke his leg falling off a horse. Nonetheless, he was at the head of his grenadiers at Friedland in June. That day, his request for reinforcements prompted Napoleon I to reply, Tell Oudinot that wherever he is, he need only fear himself (Oudinot later had these words engraved on a pipe given to him by the Emperor).

A Count since 1808, Oudinot participated in the German Campaign of 1809, winning the Battle of Pfaffenhofen and receiving an injured at Essling. At Essing and Wagram, he replaced Jean Lannes as Commander. He was elevated to Marshal six days later.

In April 1810, he became Duke of Reggio and Commander in Holland when he was recalled to France. His moderation and the discipline he imposed on his troupes later merited the thanks of the new King after the fall of the Empire.

In 1812, he entered Russia at the head of his grenadiers, captured Podolsk in August where he was seriously injured. Scarcely recovered, he returned to command during the retreat and was again gravely wounded at the Battle of Berezina.

1813 was hardly kinder to him. Beaten by Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte at Gross Beeren in August, he contracted typhus a few weeks later and returned to France in critical condition.

Once again, he was barely allowed time to recover before returning to the front. He evaded death by a hair at Brienne (January 1814) when a cannon-ball grazed both his legs and at Arcis-sur-Aube in Marche when he was struck by a bullet in the chest, throwing him spread-eagle into the ranks of the Legion of Honour.

On April 4, 1814 at Fontainebleau, Oudinot was among the most vociferous advocates for Napoleon I's abdication, offering his services immediately after to the Count d'Artois. King Louis XVIII gave him command of a military region.

At the beginning of the Hundred Days, after failing to lead his troupes against Napoleon, he returned to his estate without a commission.

With the return of Louis XVIII, he was returned to his duties with the additional responsibility of commanding the National Guard of Paris. He was made a Duke and Peer in 1817 and commanded the Spanish Expedition in 1823 under the Duke d'Angoulême.

In 1842, he was named Governor of the Invalides , the last post he would hold. He died at the respectable age of 80 on September 13, 1847 in the H(tel des Invalides. He was laid to rest in the Governor's Crypt of the Cathedral of Saint-Louis.

Freemasonry: Marshal Oudinot was initiated as a Freemason in 1799 at the "Saint-Jean de Jérusalem" Lodge in Nancy (the same lodge that would initiate Michel Ney two years later) and was a member of the "L'Amitié" ("Friendship") Lodge of Arras in 1805. In 1811, he received the title "Your Worship" from the "Saint-Napoleon" Lodge and under the Restoration was made Worshipful Grand Officer of the Grand Orient of France.

The name Oudinot can be found on the 13rd column (east side) of the Arc de Triomphe while a statue by Pierre Joyeux honouring the Duke of Reggio's memory can be found on the north side of the Louvre on the Rue de Rivoli .
Some references

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One of his actual coats which sold for approx £80,000 in a french auction house
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Couple of books

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Of interest as well

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Currently he looks like this ....based coated .....pics curtesy of iffyvision productions

Its already based up using the provided base rather than a brass rod that fits perfectly on a lovley rounded base from Richard Wharton of Oakwood Bases

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Thanks for looking in

Stay tuned

Nap
 
Coming along nicely there old fruit :)

Staying tuned
Leggy

Good to hear Leggy



I'm on the audience as well. Interesting research as always, Kev.

Front seat for you ....watch out for Leggy he likes popcorn !

Nice little project (is the boxart guy's face bronzed?).

Reading his biog reminded me of this recent story ref the town of Bitche running foul of Facebook ;)

Fury in Bitche as town's Facebook page is shut down for being offensive | Metro News

Cheers should paint up okay ......ref face ...no factor 50 available ...hence sunburn!!

Another Verlinden beauty, once you erase the box art from your mind, that is.

Looking forward to see you tackle him (the bust, not Verlinden of course:))

Pierre

Box art was IMO not the strongest part of the Verlinden !

Very cool! Go, Nap, go!

Nice to have you in the audience as well

Happy benchtime

Nap

PS going to sand back that putty you can see in first of the unpainted resin pics
 
Nap, I trust you have seen this thread on the forum https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/marshal-oudinot.36488/ of another attempt to portray Monsieur Oudinot.

Also from your experience of painting a thousand or so busts, you realize the end of your tribulations will result in a lovely piece of work, bearing no likeness whatsoever to Nicolas-Charles Oudinot.

That is another peculiarity of the napoleonic bust series from Verlinden, not a single one of them bears the slightest resemblance to the person it pretends to depict.

I once got tricked in painting the bust of Lannes in his Swiss uniform, only to realize when finished his face and hairdo didn't look like him at all.

But in no way my grumbling should deter you from your artistic endeavors!

cheers,

Pierre
 
Hi Pierre

Thanks for link , not see it , nice version by John there ...that sash is to die for !
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I keep looking at the facial feature ...reckon your right doesn't look much like him but should paint up okay ....need to confirm eye and hair colour as well

Thanks for looking in

Happy benchtime

Nap
 
Hi Kevin,

I had a go at most of these Verlinden busts of Napoleon's Marshals many moons ago.
They were all fun to paint, but the Murat one was nothing like the man.
Anyway, one doesn't 'often' see these people in real life, but I've come across this one of Oudinot in later life:-

Nicolas-Charles-Victor_Oudinot.jpg


I presume this is a daguerreotype image.
Obviously no help to you with eye colour etc, but interesting in itself.

Cheers,
Andrew
 
Kevin,

Judging from the existing portraits of the man, I'd go for brown/hazel eyes and black or very dark brown hair. Just an educated guess, having never met the man in person.

From the painting, engravings and statues you see the form of the face and the nose are rather different from the Verlinden bust; face is more triangular with a smallish chin, high forehead and a straight nose, giving our friend a rather haughty look.

Nicolas_Charles_Oudinot_by_Robert_Lefèvre.jpeg
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Bar-le-Duc-Monument_Oudinot_(1).jpeg
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Looking forward to see this grow!

Pierre
 
The usual thorough research and a great start Nap. I've only done Davout in this range, but it was a very nice bust to work on.
 
Hi Guys

Thanks for posts

Andrew ...great picture of the man ...would make a definately good bust

Pierre ...appreciate your thoughts ref colouring and features , think I might leave the Verlinden as it is ..not got enough skill to redo his face ...Leggy would hunt me down ! .....will try and define the hair features

...I am tempted to add the bling oak leaves to the sleeves though

Peter ...great to have you with me on this , I did Laselle years ago ...probably one of my first busts ! ...no ide where it's is now

Stay tuned and happy benchtime

Nap
 
think I might leave the Verlinden as it is ..not got enough skill to redo his face ...Leggy woukd hunt me down !

Nap

Nah not me big fella :D

Like the added bling (You just can't help yourself can you) :ROFLMAO:

Cheers
Leggy
 
close up from Pierres pics

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Additional arm lace all dry , now primed , will basecoat later

If the torso was longer I woukd add the lower star as in picture !

Looking forward to getting this going

Happy benchtime to all

Nap
 
Looking good. I knew some of his background but not all the details you supplied, Nap. Fancy running away from a brewery to join the army! Strange man.

Jeff
 
Hi Guys

Verbal update ..pics later

Additional lace not looking too bad , now all prined and base coated

Working on the face first on this one then it will be the lacework

Happy benchtine

Nap
 
Hi everybody

Picture updates////

Flesh anmd hair all done , shirt collar and neck cloth competed , ribbons all done

Star just basecoated and lined in

Next will be the sash ...need to think how to replicate the silk ...all thoughts welcome, then the actual medals , then the lacework ....and a final check and that should be it !!!

Que the pics......click on for larger images if you wish

All comments welcome

Happy benchtime

Nap

WIP 001.jpgWIP 003.jpg

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