"Le Roi D'Yvetot" (King of Yvetot) is one of the most popular songs of the 1800s, written by Beranger. It seems that the song was a satire of the first Napoleon. The song also helped propagate the legend of Yvetot, as the independent state within Normandy and within the Kingdom of France. Yvetot remained a principality until 1789.

By reading the lyrics, we see a simple King without expensive tastes, who is always happy, not demanding, and loves his people. When he died, people cried and mourned, and he was celebrated on every occasion. Our rough translation: "We still keep his portrait, which is now the sign for our bar, it is famous in our area, and the people cheer and celebrate with drink". It is through this sarcasm that we see the satire of Napoleon.

This is one of 4 paintings that we have, depciting famous French songs, done in the mid 1900’s.  They were recovered from a bar in Brittany.