(10 Jun 2007)
1. Pan left across auction room
2. Tilt down from painting of Napoleon to Napoleon's sword in glass case
3. Close of the sword in glass case
4. Pan of blade from point to handle
5. Close of blade inscription reading: (french) "Sabre of Napoleon the Great at the battle of Marengo"
6. Close-up of blade point
7. Set-up of Jean-Pierre Osenat, auctioneer and owner of the Osenat auction house, taking the blade out of the glass case and putting it in sheath
8. SOUNDBITE: (French) Jean-Pierre Osenat, auctioneer and owner of the Osenat auction house: (speaking prior to the sale)
"And you can see here's an object that I have between my hands and which symbolises - more than any other - the power, the strength and the incantatory power of the Emperor Napoleon. It's the sabre that he carried at the battle of Marengo in 1800."
9. Various close-ups of sabre
10. SOUNDBITE: (French) Jean-Pierre Osenat, auctioneer and owner of the Osenat auction house: (speaking prior to the sale)
"This sabre, he carried it at the battle of Marengo, he went to the front with this sabre and that's what gives it its captivating quality. It's at the same time a weapon of war and a very beautiful object of art."
11. Close of statue of Napoleon
12. Close of painting of Napoleon
13. Close of portrait of Napoleon
14. Close of sabre handle
15. SOUNDBITE: (French) Jean-Pierre Osenat, auctioneer and owner of the Osenat auction house: (speaking prior to the sale)
"All things being equal, 1 (m) million or two (m) million euros (1.3 or 2.7 (m) million US dollars) (which is what he expected the sword to fetch) what's that compared to the 74 (m) million euros (98.8 (m) million US dollars) paid for a Mark Rothko or Andy Warhol painting in New York during the auction of contemporary art two weeks ago?"
16. Close of blade being taken out of sheath and put back in glass case
STORYLINE:
A gold-encrusted sword Napoleon wore into battle in Italy was sold on Sunday, for more than $6.4 (m) million US dollars at an auction south of Paris, the auction house said.
The last of Napoleon's swords in private hands, it had been expected to fetch more than $1.6 (m) million US dollars, the Osenat auction house, managing the sale, said.
The auction house did not identify the buyer, but said the sword will remain in Napoleon's family, which had put it up for sale in the first place.
The emperor gave it to his brother, Jerome, as a wedding gift in 1805, and it had remained among their descendants ever since.
Auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat said a well-heeled woman bought the sword for her husband, calling it a "very nice Father's Day gift," and that she wanted to remain anonymous.
Applause rang out in a packed auction hall across the street from one of Napoleon's imperial castles in Fontainebleau, a town southeast of Paris where the sword was sold.
The intricately decorated blade is 97 centimetres (32 inches) in length and curves gently, based on an inspiration Napoleon drew from his Egyptian campaign, Osenat said.
The sword was carried by Napoleon, who was not yet Emperor, into the battle of Marengo in June 1800, where he launched a surprise attack to push the Austrian army from Italy and seal France's victory, auction house
officials said.
"This sabre, he carried it at the battle of Marengo, he went to the front with this sabre and that's what gives it its captivating quality," Osenat told AP Television just prior to the sale.
The sword was declared a national treasure in 1978, meaning that under French law it could be sold to a foreign buyer but had to remain in France for at least five months per year.
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