This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/dec/26/napoleons-warhorse-marengo-gets-ready-to-ride-out-again
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Napoleon's warhorse Marengo gets ready to ride out again Napoleon's warhorse Marengo gets ready to ride out again | |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| “Ah, that’s it, got it moving now,” Derek Bell said in satisfaction, as he and Arianna Bernucci delicately dragged off the leg of one of the most famous horses in history. The crude iron bars and rusted bolts were exposed, which for almost two centuries have been holding together the skeleton of Napoleon’s little grey Arab stallion, Marengo. | “Ah, that’s it, got it moving now,” Derek Bell said in satisfaction, as he and Arianna Bernucci delicately dragged off the leg of one of the most famous horses in history. The crude iron bars and rusted bolts were exposed, which for almost two centuries have been holding together the skeleton of Napoleon’s little grey Arab stallion, Marengo. |
| The skeleton of the horse that repeatedly carried Napoleon into victory in battle, and finally into the last defeat at Waterloo in 1815, is being taken apart by Bell, an expert on prop making and conservation, and Bernucci, a senior conservator who has been recruited from the Natural History Museum to help with a unique project. In a studio in old farm buildings in Essex, they are dismantling, conserving and reconstructing Marengo for the National Army Museum, which will reopen on its Chelsea site in spring 2017 after a three-year closure for a major rebuild. | The skeleton of the horse that repeatedly carried Napoleon into victory in battle, and finally into the last defeat at Waterloo in 1815, is being taken apart by Bell, an expert on prop making and conservation, and Bernucci, a senior conservator who has been recruited from the Natural History Museum to help with a unique project. In a studio in old farm buildings in Essex, they are dismantling, conserving and reconstructing Marengo for the National Army Museum, which will reopen on its Chelsea site in spring 2017 after a three-year closure for a major rebuild. |
| According to a tiny silver plaque on one of the bones, the skeleton was originally mounted on its iron frame at the London Hospital by somebody called Willmott. Willmott was presumably one of the craftsmen more used to preparing human medical specimens for the teaching hospital’s museum, and didn’t cope very well with a horse. | According to a tiny silver plaque on one of the bones, the skeleton was originally mounted on its iron frame at the London Hospital by somebody called Willmott. Willmott was presumably one of the craftsmen more used to preparing human medical specimens for the teaching hospital’s museum, and didn’t cope very well with a horse. |
| “One of the reasons for remounting the skeleton is to make poor Marengo look more like a horse. The drooping head, and the peculiar stiff position of the legs made him look more like a mule,” Sophie Stathie, a curator at the museum, said. “He was one of the most loved objects in the old museum, but every time I came into the gallery I always thought there was something sad about him.” | “One of the reasons for remounting the skeleton is to make poor Marengo look more like a horse. The drooping head, and the peculiar stiff position of the legs made him look more like a mule,” Sophie Stathie, a curator at the museum, said. “He was one of the most loved objects in the old museum, but every time I came into the gallery I always thought there was something sad about him.” |
| Many contemporary images show Napoleon on his horse, the master’s arm raised brandishing a sabre, the horse rearing and snorting in excitement at the prospect of battle. He was probably about seven when Napoleon acquired him in 1799, and named him the following year after his famous victory over the Austrians at the battle of Marengo. He rode him at Austerlitz, the “battle of the three emperors” where he defeated the far larger combined forces of Austria and Russia, and at several other engagements. In the Peninsular wars, Marengo was also said to have regularly covered the 80-mile distance between Valladolid and Burgos in five hours. | Many contemporary images show Napoleon on his horse, the master’s arm raised brandishing a sabre, the horse rearing and snorting in excitement at the prospect of battle. He was probably about seven when Napoleon acquired him in 1799, and named him the following year after his famous victory over the Austrians at the battle of Marengo. He rode him at Austerlitz, the “battle of the three emperors” where he defeated the far larger combined forces of Austria and Russia, and at several other engagements. In the Peninsular wars, Marengo was also said to have regularly covered the 80-mile distance between Valladolid and Burgos in five hours. |
| The horse was left behind at Waterloo when Napoleon fled. The French emperor made it back to Paris, formally abdicated, surrendered to the British, and was sent into exile on the remote island of St Helena, where he died in 1821. | The horse was left behind at Waterloo when Napoleon fled. The French emperor made it back to Paris, formally abdicated, surrendered to the British, and was sent into exile on the remote island of St Helena, where he died in 1821. |
| Marengo long outlived him. He was captured by the Grenadier Guards and brought to England, bought by Lt Col John Julius Angerstein, and spent a peaceful old age after an unsuccessful attempt to breed from him. He died in 1831, reputedly aged 38. | Marengo long outlived him. He was captured by the Grenadier Guards and brought to England, bought by Lt Col John Julius Angerstein, and spent a peaceful old age after an unsuccessful attempt to breed from him. He died in 1831, reputedly aged 38. |
| Angerstein gave the skeleton – and possibly originally the grey hide, though the records are very sketchy – to the museum of the Royal United Services Institute, where by 1865 he was listed in a guide book as one of its principal attractions. In the 1960s, Marengo was given with other Waterloo material to the then new National Army Museum. | Angerstein gave the skeleton – and possibly originally the grey hide, though the records are very sketchy – to the museum of the Royal United Services Institute, where by 1865 he was listed in a guide book as one of its principal attractions. In the 1960s, Marengo was given with other Waterloo material to the then new National Army Museum. |
| The Duke of Wellington’s equally famous but much younger Waterloo horse, Copenhagen, died in 1836, aged 28 – reportedly accelerated by his fondness for sugar buns – and was buried at the duke’s Stratfield Saye estate. A marble headstone was later added, including the lines “God’s humbler instrument though meaner clay/ Should share the glory of that glorious day”. | The Duke of Wellington’s equally famous but much younger Waterloo horse, Copenhagen, died in 1836, aged 28 – reportedly accelerated by his fondness for sugar buns – and was buried at the duke’s Stratfield Saye estate. A marble headstone was later added, including the lines “God’s humbler instrument though meaner clay/ Should share the glory of that glorious day”. |
| The duke was apparently enraged at a suggestion from the museum that he dig him up to display beside Marengo. The two horses starred in a fantasy love affair conducted by letter, serialised on Radio 4, with Stephen Fry as the voice of Marengo. | The duke was apparently enraged at a suggestion from the museum that he dig him up to display beside Marengo. The two horses starred in a fantasy love affair conducted by letter, serialised on Radio 4, with Stephen Fry as the voice of Marengo. |
| All this time poor Marengo has been standing on only two feet. Replacements will be made for the missing hooves: one survives, silver mounted as a souvenir inkwell, on loan to the Household Cavalry, and the other probably suffered the same fate. | All this time poor Marengo has been standing on only two feet. Replacements will be made for the missing hooves: one survives, silver mounted as a souvenir inkwell, on loan to the Household Cavalry, and the other probably suffered the same fate. |
| In the new displays Marengo will be reunited with other relics from Waterloo, including weapons, uniforms, and Napoleon’s own ornate silver gilt coffee urn, abandoned like his horse when he fled the battlefield. | In the new displays Marengo will be reunited with other relics from Waterloo, including weapons, uniforms, and Napoleon’s own ornate silver gilt coffee urn, abandoned like his horse when he fled the battlefield. |
| “He was a remarkable animal, and he deserves for us to do better by him,” Stathie said. | “He was a remarkable animal, and he deserves for us to do better by him,” Stathie said. |