Pour l’ Empereur
Box Diorama
This is my first box diorama, comprised of thirty-eight 54mm figures (most of them Historex conversions) representing the Imperial Grenadier Guard Band greeting their Emperor as he arrives at a villa pressed that has been pressed into service for the evening as the temporary palace while on campaign. The time is early Fall at some point during the height of the Empire; the setting, an unspecified locale in the countryside of the European mainland. In addition to the musicians, the Guard’s legendary seven-foot-tall drum-major, the band’s conductor, and the usual occupants of the house, several key members of Napoleon’s inner circle are depicted, including Marshals Davout, Murat, and Berthier, and his Mameluke bodyguard, Roustam.
This box represents about ten months’ work, though I enjoyed every minute of it, and I had the help, encouragement, guidance, and gentle prodding of Shep Paine to push me forward. The pictures give some idea of the scene, but it’s more effective in in person, thanks to the lighting and a momentary push-button that triggers an appropriate musical accompaniment. The box is the subject of an article I wrote about adding sound to a diorama for the first-quarter 2008 edition of Historical Miniature magazine, and I am proud to say that it won a silver medal at the Military Miniatures Society of Illinois Show in 2007.
