Pascal Convert's 3D-printed replica of Napoleon's horse Marengo sparks controversy at Invalides

Pascal Convert created a 3D-printed facsimile of Marengo, Napoleon's horse, for the bicentenary exhibition "Napoléon ? Encore !" at the Musée de l'Armée-Hôtel des Invalides. The original skeleton, captured by Wellington's troops at Waterloo on 18 June 1815, is held by the National Army Museum in London. Due to fragility and British sensitivities, a loan was impossible; Convert obtained permission for a unique high-definition 3D copy, produced with Iconem and Factum Arte. The 206 bones were scanned, individually printed in a high-tech aerospace lab, and assembled by CHD Art Maker with patina applied by painters who replicated the Gargas Cave. Historian Thierry Lentz criticized the use of "plastic" as an ignoble material, but Convert argues the real issue is the work's placement within the sacred circle of Napoleon's tomb. He frames the project as an ancient funerary ritual, referencing the Celtic tomb of Gondole, the Piovego Necropolis, and Chinese sites, as well as the sculpted transis at Saint-Denis. The horse's pose evokes Pegasus and the ship Bellerophon, which carried Napoleon into exile. Convert also recalls his 2003 Monument to the Resistance at Mont Valérien, which sparked a Gaullist-Communist memory conflict that reached President Chirac. The bicentenary revives divisions over Napoleon's 1802 re-establishment of slavery, which Convert calls an indelible stain. He insists the work neither offends nor praises but questions historical complexity.