What was up with Napoleon's hand?

Question

My class just went over the French Revolution in History class for the past week and every day the question, "What was wrong with Napoleon's hand?" came up. I mean, in almost all the pictures I saw of him he had his hand in his shirt. My teacher thinks he had some kind of skin condition. I've been surfing the web but I haven't been able to find anything yet :\

Answer 1

Why is Napoleon depicted with his hand in his coat?

By Tom Holmberg

Many theories have been presented as to why Napoleon is traditionally depicted with his hand in his waistcoat. Some of these theories include: that he had a stomach ulcer, he was winding his watch, he had an itchy skin disease, that in his era it was impolite to put your hands in your pockets, he had breast cancer, he had a deformed hand, he kept a perfumed sachet in his vest that he'd sniff surreptitiously, and that painters don't like to paint hands. A simpler and more elegant theory is contained in an article entitled, "Re-Dressing Classical Statuary: The Eighteenth-Century 'Hand-in-Waistcoat' Portrait." by Arline Miller. Art Bulletin (College Art Association of America), Vol. 77, No.2, March 1995, p.45-64. Miller points out that the 'hand-in' portrait type appeared with "relentless frequency" during the eighteenth century and became almost a cliched pose in portrait painting. The pose was used so often by portraitists that one was even accused of not knowing how to paint hands. "In real life," Miller observes, "the 'hand-held-in' was a common stance for men of breeding." Miller goes on to give many examples of this posture in painted portraits dating from the early and middle 1700s, well before Napoleon's birth. In 1738 Francois Nivelon published A Book Of Genteel Behavior describing the "hand-in-waistcoat" posture as signifying "manly boldness tempered with modesty." Miller says that the hidden hand was a feature of some statues of the ancient Greeks and Romans and that later painters based their poses on classical models. The pose was recommended by certain classical writers as a useful posture for orators. Aeschines of Macedon (390-331 B.C.), an actor, orator and founder of a school of rhetoric, who wrote an important book on oratory, postulated that speaking with one's arm outside the toga was considered ill-mannered. A number of textbooks on oratory published in the eighteenth century, following Aeschines, recommended this gesture. Although Miller doesn't mention it, it is possible that the great French actor Talma, who reportedly trained Napoleon in Imperial comportment, may have been familiar with these works.

Miller concludes with an addendum on Napoleon: "Today the 'hand-in' gesture is, of course, best known from its personalized revival in the nineteenth century. Surely most people would recognize the pose as Napoleon's inimitable trademark — which David rendered indelible in his commanding portrait of 1812 ["Napoleon in his Study"]... It is not surprising that when Napoleon's reputation plummeted, a subtly arched postural inflection made the gesture decidedly imperious... The enduring French association is in fact somewhat ironic, in that the gesture had a voguish run as an English portrait convention long before it became Napoleon's quasi-military emblem."

Answer 2

the answer is simple he used to pick his nose alot and he used to hide the bugers inside of his jacket . strange but true.

Answer 3

he had stomach sores and he kept scratching them so he was always depicted kepping his hand in his pocket.

Answer 4

He didn't trust his soldiers who were a load of thieves and vagabonds, so he kept his hand on his wallet

Answer 5

I think he's secretly just flicking everyone off underneath that jacket.

Answer 6

It was a cool stance to have if you were in the millitary.

I mean, he was a badass.

I think it's the French empire version of a multi-million dollar rapper grabbing his belt buckle/crotch.

Or a cute Japanese kid making the peace sign..

Answer 7

Maybe he was just warming up a bagel thats what i think

Answer 8

Napoleon had stomach sores which he scratched and scratched till they bleed. That maybe the reason.

Answer 9

I think he had a tremor in that hand, and that was why he was keeping it hidden.

Possible side effect of poisoning with arsenic, which was used a lot more than it should have been at the time.

Answer 10

it was simply his "stance"......the fact that he required people to notice him is due to his height.  he was only 5` 4" tall.

i always used to think it was the fact that he had to feel his heart beating , thus telling him that he was still `alive` to carry out his "Gods Purpose".

poor , demented little fellow that he was.

Answer 11

This may not be the answer, but back then painters charged by the limb (which is where the saying "it'll cost ya an arm and a leg" came from) so most people when they were having their picture painted they would hide their hand in their coats to keep the cost down.

Answer 12

The assumption is he may have had an ulcer. I had an ulcer once and I put my hand in the exact same position, a kind of external massage of the pained area

Answer 13

I believe it was a war wound. his hand was deformed and he did not want to appear weak.That is why pictures show him in that pose.