Jean-Lé0n Gérôme, French
“No Offense, But That Was a TERRIBLE Walken Impression. If I Were You, I’d Stick To Riddles,” 1886
Oil on canvas
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/// Bonaparte there Before the Sphinx sat.
(He’s the one in the sideways black hat.)
There’s a “factoid” that goes:
French troops shot off its nose.
That’s untrue; it, for decades, was flat.
/// Gérôme named this oil “Œdipe” and
those who know ancient myths understand.
From old Greece came a tale:
The Sphinx riddles. Don’t fail.
Answer wrong and your funeral’s planned.
/// As Napoleon gazed, he could swear
the wind whispered a voice through the air.
“What can starving men eat
if they dig at my feet?”
Nap replied, “Swallow sand which is there!”
/// The young Corsican knew in his heart
that he, too, would inspire timeless art.
One day he’d take the throne
and be captured in stone
and in oils. (Here, Gérôme played a part.)
/// The Great Sphinx, Nap saw, transcended art.
‘Twas an omen his greatness would start.
What this Pharaoh depicted
had here clearly predicted
with a face that appeared blown apart.