This was because he was relatively short for a ruler. Most nobles were >=6'. He was roughly 5'6", which was roughly average height for the time. This was where most of the ridicule for being short came from as well, the British were really good at pointing out how vertically challenged he was any time the opportunity arose.
Funny to see all the comments mentioning him being “handsome” lol. During his lifetime, even from an early age, he was generally considered to be a pretty ugly guy. According to “sources” at the time, he had a sickly pale/slightly jaundiced complexion and a personality that was cold and off-putting.
Iirc he was generally considered dashing and handsome in his late 20s before he started putting on weight.
Judging from the looks of him he lost some of that weight on Elba.
He also believed that the British were purposefully poisoning him. He knew that as long as he remained alive, the British would be forced to maintain their 2,000 man garrison on the island as well as a squadron of ships constantly patrolling the island. He assumed that they were trying to “get things over with” quickly…
You wanna pay for 2,000 soldiers to hangout on a worthless island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? Its not about lacking troops and ships, its about paying wages, repairing/maintaining wooden ships and their sails. Its about providing enough provisions to feed, clothe, and arm the garrison. Its about removing elements of the garrison when their time in service is over. We’re talking about managing the logistical network required to keep an island prison running with 2,000 guards just so they could hold one prisoner, all on an island that was SPECIFICALLY chosen for its remoteness.
This! Colonial garrisons were EXTREMELY expensive to maintain overseas, which is why they often relied on local militias (in the Americas) or the VoC (in India) to maintain control locally. One of the reasons decolonization occurred so quickly was that the African and Asian colonies of the European powers were MORE expensive to maintain then the value they generated for the State. Post-WWII the nations of Europe had been left devastated by the war, and there was a choice to be made… maintain expensive colonial garrisons that will cost the State more than they are worth (especially with the growing nationalist/anti-colonial movements across the colonized world), or let them go and focus on rebuilding the homeland.
I think Washington knew this when Cornwallis arrived with 50ish ships. Nice show of force but how long can you maintain that for? And while the Hessiers were not technically mercenaries I'm pretty sure that cost a ton of money for that arrangement.
>Judging from the looks of him he lost some of that weight on Elba.
Elba was his first exile. He died on his second exile.
He was exiled on Elba in 1814 for only 9 months, returned to France for 110 days, fought at Waterloo, lost, and then was exiled at Saint Helena. He died in 1821 after six years in Saint Helena.
https://preview.redd.it/w3aperx6068d1.jpeg?width=418&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d859473c7a5d1521d4aa85b0fe03eee994fe536e
How accurate are these paintings of him 🤔
I have no idea… you’re talking about a portrait of arguably one of the most powerful men in history, and also one of the single greatest egos as well. This is most likely from after he had declared himself emperor, so based on that knowledge I would assume this is likely when he began to get chubby. This weight gain would continue on for the rest of his life up to his final exile on Saint Helena.
"Bonaparte was rather slight and emaciated-looking; his face, too, was very thin, with a dark complexion.”
“He was very thin and haggard; coughed often, as if he were consumptive, and was hollow-chested. He had a soft, weak voice....”
“He is very sallow, with light grey eyes, and rather thin, greasy-looking brown hair, and altogether a very nasty, priestlike-looking fellow....”
Kircheisen, F.M. Napoleon New York : Harcourt, Brace, 1932.
"yellow, obese, bloated, with his head too far down on his shoulders."
Seward, Desmond. Napoleon's Family New York : Viking, 1986.
1. General Würstemberger, who accompanied Napoleon through Switzerland after Camp Formio in 1797
2. General von Graffenried von Gerzensee (During the same trip)
3. First Capt. Ross, commander of the Northumberland in 1815
4. Novelist Paul de Kock, after seeing him in 1811
Best part of me using sources, you could just have easily gotten this information by looking it up yourself 🤷🏻♂️
Thats not how sources work… you are supposed to provide a source for WHERE you got the information from, not WHO its about. I didn’t get my information from the writings of these people, I got my information from the work of historians who in their research came upon these primary accounts.
I genuinely don’t mean to come off as condescending or insulting, but I’m surprised to see how people on a history based subreddit don’t understand the basics of how a source works… if you use a quote from a speech listed in a biography, you list the biography as a source, not the speech itself.
Primary sources are sources that come directly from people who witnessed the event/person they are discussing. Each quote I used is a primary source, because these are quotes from people detailing the appearance of Napoleon… If you’re going to pretend to understand how sources work, know the difference between a primary and secondary source 🤷🏻♂️
I have a feeling these death masks are a lot like official portraits. There’s an art to it and the artist wants to flatter the subject.
Ofc before cameras you had a lot more artistic control
The face of one of the greatest men in history.
Napoleon, Caesar, and Alexander.
These men shaped the world around them in ways they could have never comprehended.
Chinggis Khan, above all, paved the way for an expansion of eurasian trade that truly connected the landmass. Trade of goods, trade of religion, ideas, illnesses too.
Yet here you are on a history sub, without a single clue on how history even works.
So please tell me how Alexander the Great didn't contribute to history?
And how Napoleon didn't shape his century?
And the preceding ones.
Or do you just think history is just some isolated point that has no relevance to anything coming after it.
God's, I hope you're not a teacher.
*Looks like the love child*
*Of Matthew McConaughey, Conan*
*O'Brien and the rock*
\- surfincouchpotato
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He died at 51, I wonder if they did touch ups when they cast it in bronze? Because for someone who died of a stomach ulcer, his face doesn't appear to be malnourished.
Great comparison, bravo!
What is this from? I can’t place it.
Prometheus
[удалено]
Tyty
My first thought before scrolling!
Handsome squidoleon
Dennis Hopper?
Huh, wonder if they’re distantly related
NOOO, NOT THE FREEERENCH!!!
I was thinking Rutger Howard...
Like tears in rain Time to die… Then get my face casted in bronze
Rutger Howard..Who? It’s (Rutger) Hauer. Not Howard. 🤣
Oops
It's Rutger Howard, Ron Howard's crazy Dutch cousin. He beat the crap out of the Fonz and then jumped two sharks in that episode of Happy Days.
I was just going to say it looks like me, and I've been told I look like Dennis Hopper a lot. The nose is even the same.
I see Tobin Bell
HEINEKEN?! FUCK THAT SHIT!
Bro been mewing
It’s beautiful. He must have been a handsome man
Many people considered him to be unattractive at the time, including his wife.
Yeah, but she was a brat.
This was because he was relatively short for a ruler. Most nobles were >=6'. He was roughly 5'6", which was roughly average height for the time. This was where most of the ridicule for being short came from as well, the British were really good at pointing out how vertically challenged he was any time the opportunity arose.
I see Woody Harrelson also.
A young Rutger Hauer.
https://preview.redd.it/bpxsl2d7p58d1.jpeg?width=1136&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80b35b0f6de0f89c0b1d3e5ddcffe86e67458e9c
 Found him
he sure was handsome!
And he wasn’t short for the standards of the time.
True. he was a stud!
Correct
Alas he was fr*nch
He was very nearly Italian though
Conan O'Brien?
This was my first thought.
You mean [Tarja Halonen](https://www.reddit.com/r/totallylookslike/comments/n9769z/conan_obrien_and_tarja_halonen_former_president/) 😂
Guess the paintings were pretty accurate
Funny to see all the comments mentioning him being “handsome” lol. During his lifetime, even from an early age, he was generally considered to be a pretty ugly guy. According to “sources” at the time, he had a sickly pale/slightly jaundiced complexion and a personality that was cold and off-putting.
Iirc he was generally considered dashing and handsome in his late 20s before he started putting on weight. Judging from the looks of him he lost some of that weight on Elba.
Well, he died of stomach cancer. So he likely wasn't keeping much food.
He also believed that the British were purposefully poisoning him. He knew that as long as he remained alive, the British would be forced to maintain their 2,000 man garrison on the island as well as a squadron of ships constantly patrolling the island. He assumed that they were trying to “get things over with” quickly…
Because the British empire really lacked troops and ships
You wanna pay for 2,000 soldiers to hangout on a worthless island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? Its not about lacking troops and ships, its about paying wages, repairing/maintaining wooden ships and their sails. Its about providing enough provisions to feed, clothe, and arm the garrison. Its about removing elements of the garrison when their time in service is over. We’re talking about managing the logistical network required to keep an island prison running with 2,000 guards just so they could hold one prisoner, all on an island that was SPECIFICALLY chosen for its remoteness.
Battle of Queenston heights in Canada during war of 1812 only had about 1300 British regulars, so yea its a lot relatively speaking
This! Colonial garrisons were EXTREMELY expensive to maintain overseas, which is why they often relied on local militias (in the Americas) or the VoC (in India) to maintain control locally. One of the reasons decolonization occurred so quickly was that the African and Asian colonies of the European powers were MORE expensive to maintain then the value they generated for the State. Post-WWII the nations of Europe had been left devastated by the war, and there was a choice to be made… maintain expensive colonial garrisons that will cost the State more than they are worth (especially with the growing nationalist/anti-colonial movements across the colonized world), or let them go and focus on rebuilding the homeland.
I think Washington knew this when Cornwallis arrived with 50ish ships. Nice show of force but how long can you maintain that for? And while the Hessiers were not technically mercenaries I'm pretty sure that cost a ton of money for that arrangement.
They think they're so great because they have boats
His cancer received a boost from the Brits.
https://preview.redd.it/ciwjrww9068d1.jpeg?width=912&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1509ec32db82f021d08b0cadf2150553292cc7a9 Like this
>Judging from the looks of him he lost some of that weight on Elba. Elba was his first exile. He died on his second exile. He was exiled on Elba in 1814 for only 9 months, returned to France for 110 days, fought at Waterloo, lost, and then was exiled at Saint Helena. He died in 1821 after six years in Saint Helena.
https://preview.redd.it/w3aperx6068d1.jpeg?width=418&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d859473c7a5d1521d4aa85b0fe03eee994fe536e How accurate are these paintings of him 🤔
I have no idea… you’re talking about a portrait of arguably one of the most powerful men in history, and also one of the single greatest egos as well. This is most likely from after he had declared himself emperor, so based on that knowledge I would assume this is likely when he began to get chubby. This weight gain would continue on for the rest of his life up to his final exile on Saint Helena.
Napoleon complex
What "sources" are those.
"Bonaparte was rather slight and emaciated-looking; his face, too, was very thin, with a dark complexion.” “He was very thin and haggard; coughed often, as if he were consumptive, and was hollow-chested. He had a soft, weak voice....” “He is very sallow, with light grey eyes, and rather thin, greasy-looking brown hair, and altogether a very nasty, priestlike-looking fellow....” Kircheisen, F.M. Napoleon New York : Harcourt, Brace, 1932. "yellow, obese, bloated, with his head too far down on his shoulders." Seward, Desmond. Napoleon's Family New York : Viking, 1986.
I don't think Napoleon lived in the XX century ;-)
These are obviously collections of primary sources… 🤦♂️
Then who are the primary sources
1. General Würstemberger, who accompanied Napoleon through Switzerland after Camp Formio in 1797 2. General von Graffenried von Gerzensee (During the same trip) 3. First Capt. Ross, commander of the Northumberland in 1815 4. Novelist Paul de Kock, after seeing him in 1811 Best part of me using sources, you could just have easily gotten this information by looking it up yourself 🤷🏻♂️
You could have just as easily given the primary sources in the first place instead of some random new yorkers from 100 years later
Thats not how sources work… you are supposed to provide a source for WHERE you got the information from, not WHO its about. I didn’t get my information from the writings of these people, I got my information from the work of historians who in their research came upon these primary accounts. I genuinely don’t mean to come off as condescending or insulting, but I’m surprised to see how people on a history based subreddit don’t understand the basics of how a source works… if you use a quote from a speech listed in a biography, you list the biography as a source, not the speech itself.
primary sources don't mean what you want it to mean there perhaps?
Primary sources are sources that come directly from people who witnessed the event/person they are discussing. Each quote I used is a primary source, because these are quotes from people detailing the appearance of Napoleon… If you’re going to pretend to understand how sources work, know the difference between a primary and secondary source 🤷🏻♂️
a simple "yes" would have sufficed.
For someone on a “history” based subreddit, you clearly don’t understand how sources work. Too bad, so sad 🤷🏻♂️
but enough about yourself.
The bronze doesnt appear to be pale or yellow, or have an off putting personality
I have a feeling these death masks are a lot like official portraits. There’s an art to it and the artist wants to flatter the subject. Ofc before cameras you had a lot more artistic control
🗿
Lets see Paul Allens death mask
So, Napeleon is Vision from the Avengers?
Still so young
Looks like Christopher reeve to me.
Must have been a popular skin in the last version before the latest update to our current timeline.
Woody Harrelson
That's what I saw too!!
The face of one of the greatest men in history. Napoleon, Caesar, and Alexander. These men shaped the world around them in ways they could have never comprehended.
Weren't Ghenghis Khan and Attila The Hun great world shapers as well?
Chinggis Khan, above all, paved the way for an expansion of eurasian trade that truly connected the landmass. Trade of goods, trade of religion, ideas, illnesses too.
Most definitely, they were, I can't believe I forgot those two rapey bastards.
What’s so great about these men? They wasted thousands of lives for pointless conquests that are now far in the past.
Without those men, you wouldn't be here today, complaining that what they accomplished was pointless.
Ridiculous.
Your comment is ridiculous. And shows how little that you know and understand history.
Lol. It’s funny because that is exactly what I thought about your comment.
Yet here you are on a history sub, without a single clue on how history even works. So please tell me how Alexander the Great didn't contribute to history? And how Napoleon didn't shape his century? And the preceding ones. Or do you just think history is just some isolated point that has no relevance to anything coming after it. God's, I hope you're not a teacher.
Is it just me? https://preview.redd.it/sb0mptdfq78d1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e5e7b04d4255581eaeebd7143a5539e16c90683
The Great Corsican General Napoleon ✊️✊️✊️
Looks like Data/Brent Spiner 
Woody Harrelson 
Looks like the engineers from Alien
Looks like Joaquin phoenix to me 🤷🏻♂️
Looks like the love child of Matthew McConaughey, Conan O'Brien and the rock
*Looks like the love child* *Of Matthew McConaughey, Conan* *O'Brien and the rock* \- surfincouchpotato --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
He made up for his height
He was 5’7 as a French man. That was average.
Have you ever noticed all the cool people are 5’7
https://preview.redd.it/md75w59n768d1.jpeg?width=417&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=821fdbd91879cdd3697c48245643a536fbc6541c
Saying he was short part of British propaganda against him.
https://preview.redd.it/0odvvhapl78d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c1af2eeb4f6bf1ef5af744549e7553aceef4e51
The original mogger
They really should have got Brando to play him in a biopic
Died at age 51, pretty incredible he doesn't show sign of wrinkles or anything like that. Unless the death mask doesn't get all the details.
The horror
I already know he was hot based off his bronze mask
Lord Farquaad?
Oh no he’s hot
Looks like Mr Clean
Napoleon Chad confirmed
Looks like Conan Obrien, somebody just add the hair, I promise it’ll be a perfect match
Today i learned napoleon was a Chad
couldn't get a thinner top lip if you tried
Looks like Mussolini kinda
He looks like my Neighbour
Conan O’Brien
Wow
. . . Woody Haralson?
dad?
Looks a bit like Conan O'Brien.
John Kramer
Why he kinda 👄🫦
May he rest in piss for all of eternity
He died at 51, I wonder if they did touch ups when they cast it in bronze? Because for someone who died of a stomach ulcer, his face doesn't appear to be malnourished.
If it perforated fast he wouldn't necessarily go into deficit nutrition, and you can perforate and die in a matter of hours
Looks Italian
How was this made?
Conan?
Jigsaw!?
Yeah there is an early casting on it in San Antonio and New Orleans. They’re really cool
Milk chocolate.
They def killed him
Woody Harrelson?
So his death mask was made by pouring molten metal onto his face?
The metal mask was made from a clay mold.
That makes more sense
