Emperors Vanity

Napoleon never believed in half measures. When he planed monuments to his glory they had to be bigger than the Roman ones he that inspired him. Here the Arc du Carrousel

Arc de Triomphe, the gigantic monument originally dedicated to the victory of Austerlitz, dwarfs (twice the size of the largest Roman arches) all previous victory arches.

 

Gold makes Statues Look Sooo Good.

 

The Great War

Although war had already been declared between Russia, Germany, Serbia and Austria-Hungary it was still seen as a limited war. Upon learning of the German declaration of war upon France one of the most prophetic statements of that time was made: "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime," Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, August 3, 1914. Later the next day the British Empire would join the folly that would last four years, redraw the map of Europe, destroy four empires, kill more than ten million men and lay the ground work for the greatest war in human history a generation later. The lights of the old Victorian/Edwardian World would never be lit again.

British "Tommies" pass through a ruined farm in the early days of "he Great War."

(These are metal miniatures from Renegade that I painted in 2010 the ruined house is a terrain piece I completed around the same period.)