Meissonier, his life and his art . to exhibit at the Invalides,and all the members of the Sabretache—a society of which he waspresident—knew that he meant to set up a museum as soon as he couldfind a suitable building. Each of these weapons had its knew its date, its purpose, how to use it. It was impossible 70 jMEISSONIER to deceive him. A friend, anxious to give him a surprise, got posses-sion of a piece of armour, found in a marsh near Metz, and showed itto him as a unique fragment of a Merovingian suit of mail. Meissonierproved it to be part of the cuirass of a pikeman o
Meissonier, his life and his art . to exhibit at the Invalides,and all the members of the Sabretache—a society of which he waspresident—knew that he meant to set up a museum as soon as he couldfind a suitable building. Each of these weapons had its knew its date, its purpose, how to use it. It was impossible 70 jMEISSONIER to deceive him. A friend, anxious to give him a surprise, got posses-sion of a piece of armour, found in a marsh near Metz, and showed itto him as a unique fragment of a Merovingian suit of mail. Meissonierproved it to be part of the cuirass of a pikeman of the time ofLouis XIII. The keepers of the museum of artillery had the greatestrespect for his technical knowledge, and often asked him for anopinion. As soon as he began to interest himself in Napoleon, he enquireddiligently into all the possible sources of information. Long before thebeginnings of that burst of Napoleonic literature which is still in fullflood, he knew all it was possible to find out about the Emperor, his. COACH OF THE TIME OF LOlIS XUl. (Executed from drawings by Meissonier.) manners, his habits, his tastes. Was it not from him we first learntthat Napoleon never wore but one glove, that he put on clean breechesevery day, because he was constantly soiling them by his inordinatesnuff-taking, that he wore big boots, that all his riding-whips werefrayed at the end from his habit of tapping his foot with them ; that, ashe never would take the trouble of unhooking his epaulettes, his over-coats were made large enough to slip on over them ; that he went tobed in the dark, throwing everything he took off about the room, hisclothes, and even his watch, and that he never allowed a light to bebrought till he was actually in bed ? These details, too insignificantfor the historian, were not without interest for the painter. Like , Meissonier had gleaned a great deal from the old generals of THE MASTER—THE MAN 71 the staff who still survived, notably the D
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