[I've been spending too much time in eighteenth-century France & not enough in the GFFA...]

I got this idea at 11 o'clock last night and finished it around 2 o'clock in the morning. It's an idealised portrait of the Emperor and Lord Vader (if Lord V hadn't been brutally disfigured in a duel with the treacherous Maréchal de Kenobi, and if His Majesty's looks had not been quite so ruined by smallpox). I must say, I'm very pleased at how Anakin came out in this drawing. The pose definitely suits him! 

Lord Vader wears his customary armour and around his neck we have the Imperial version of the Order of St. Louis. He wears a ceremonial sash over his armour, indicating his position as heir to the throne. The Emperor holds the imperial sceptre and is seated on his throne. He hates wearing stockings and garters but is tolerating them for the sake of this regal portrait and the fact that Lord Vader will really enjoy them later. His ermine-trimmed robe is decorated with the six-rayed bendu, the symbol of his Empire. In his left hand is the Code Imperial, affirming his status as supreme lawgiver, in contrast will Lord Vader's long military baton, appropriate to his station as Palpatine's warlord.   



The amusing thing about drawing this portrait was the fact that I had to steal from everywhere to get what I wanted, particularly for Palpatine. Anakin is gorgeous in the armour of the young Louis XV. The Emperor, meanwhile, has the pose of Madame de Pompadour, the legs of Louis XVI, the sceptre of Napoleon, the wig of Pitt the Younger and the ermine finery of the Duc de Richelieu (the grand-nephew of the infamous cardinal) as well as the desk of the Duc de Chioseul!