A recent visit to the magnificent Napoleon exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria has given me renewed inspiration.

Whilst the art is nothing like the Naturalart subjects that I paint, I have great admiration for those olden day artists.  It was truly wonderful to spend hours following the life of Napoleon and looking closely at the exhibits on show especially the paintings.

It is amazing to think how old the artworks are and how skilled the artists.  Many of the paintings were of figures wearing very exquisite clothing with all the folds in the fabric frozen in time forever.  One picture had red velvet portrayed so perfectly that I wanted to reach out and feel the softness of it.  Another had depicted many silvery embroidery stitches in light and shade as they followed the contours of the garment in and out of the light.  There was a portrait of a bejeweled Josephine with the actual jewels in a nearby cabinet. There was even Napoleon’s hat.

The exhibition had more items, too many to name, a wonderful event to brighten up a rainy winter’s day.