Alexandre Paul Joseph Veron (also called Veron-Bellecourt), French painter. He was a pupil of Jacques-Louis David (for history painting) and Gerard van Spaendonck (for flower pieces). He exhibited regularly from 1801; in 1812 he received a gold medal.
He gave special lectures in his home on figure drawing, miniature, watercolour, portraits, drawing flowers, etc.
Blindman’s buff is a children’s game played as early as 2,000 years ago in Greece. To play the standard game of blindman’s buff, one player is blindfolded and then disoriented by being spun around several times. The other players, who are not blindfolded, amuse themselves by calling out to the “blind man” and dodging away from him. In the Middle Ages blindman’s buff was an adult game, and the blindfolded player was usually struck and buffeted as well, hence “buff.” A player touched or caught by the blind man takes on the blindfold.
This painting is a copy in reverse after Jean-Antoine Watteau’s La Mari�e de Village, now in Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin.
The painting depicts the visit of Napoleon on 11 February 1808.
