#larrey

Dominique-Jean Larrey BUT the 🐈‍⬛

"Eternity" – Celebrating Doctor Larrey's 260th Birthday

The drawing was made last year but never posted. This year I made some minor adjustments and attached the merchandise made from last year’s illustration—hand sanitizer and a lenticular card video—to post it in celebration of Doctor (Larrey)'s 260th birthday. The idea behind the hand sanitizer is that the Grand Army’s military surgeon guards your health. The text in the background of the illustration is Rimbaud's Eternal:

“Mon âme éternelle, Observe ton vœu Malgré la nuit seule Et le jour en feu.”

So the illustration is divided into a day version and a night version. The flowers surrounding Larrey are calendulas—also called "medal flowers." In Greek mythology, calendula is considered a gift from the sun god Apollo, but its flower language means "farewell" and also "integrity"—which is exactly how Napoleon once praised Larrey, as the most upright person. Above Larrey's head is laurel, and around him are oaks and oak leaves. The oak symbolizes resilience and has long been used in the decoration of marshals' uniforms; after Larrey's passing, laurel leaves were laid in his coffin... In short, this illustration is packed with many small symbolic touches, reflecting the deep affection between the two and their fate. The day version of the hand sanitizer is scented "Love Magic"—my own private indulgence, as I have always quietly shipped the pair (Emperor and Doctor). This year, at offline events, I gave away the remaining hand sanitizers to teachers who purchased the fanbooks. I hope everyone likes them.

warning crudely drawn blood

Dominique Jean Larrey, 1804

He was a French surgeon and military doctor during the Napoleonic Wars. He accompanied Napoleon on almost all of his campaigns. Napoleon called him “the most virtuous man I have ever known.”

Among his many innovations include introducing field hospitals, ambulance services, and first-aid practices to the battlefield. He was also the first to note the contagiousness of trachoma (1802) and published the first description of trench foot (1812).

Napoleon would say this of Larrey: “If the Army were to erect a monument of the memory of any one man, it should be that of Larrey. All the wounded are his family.”

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson

I did give my larrey a notebook and some surgical tools for entertainment (as any good owner should), but now my Napoleon won’t go near him.

What do i do? I don’t want to have to get rid of one of them. I love them both too much. 😓

Napoleons usually get along well with Larreys l, this is puzzling! I can only suspect that your Napoleon may have gotten an injury, perhaps at a Toulon, where his leg was almost amputated, and now he fears that doctors are looking for an excuse to amputate his leg.

Soothe your Napoleon and tell him it’s very unlikely that anyone will just chop off his leg for like, the sport of it. And perhaps give your Larreys some creatures to use his surgical kit on that aren’t your Napoleon, so he doesn’t feel tempted!