Jacques-Louis David, French
“Dang! I Knew If I Got a Belly Button Ring I Wouldn’t Be Able To Stop Playing With It,” 1812
Oil on canvas
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Artist info is pointed to in my comment at a prior blog entry.
/// His right hand in his vest, as expected,
is where most comments will be directed.
But we miss David’s twist—
clutched tight in the left fist
is some object we barely detected.
/// So what would France’s Emperor hold
in his study? It seems to be gold.
Perhaps knuckles of brass
(purchased in Montparnasse)
which is how Josephine was controlled.
/// Why does Bonaparte’s pose so perplex us?
Is his hand in his vest just to vex us?
Does he shield (on a hunch)
from a strong sucker punch
by a foe aimed at his solar plexus?
/// Bonaparte tried to stop; always fails.
He was constantly biting his nails.
Chewed them down to the quick.
Did he, using this trick,
hide the proof that in battle he quails?
/// Or perhaps he was forced to unbutton
his tight vest because he was a glutton.
With his wife he would frolic,
and that led to his colic.
(Skip the malkin and next time eat mutton.)