What's On

From 1815 to 1821, Napoleon was exiled to St Helena, an island in the South Atlantic supplied by the British colony of Cape Town. Throughout his stay on the island, Napoleon had a wine delivered to him: known as the “Vin de Constance”, produced in Constantia, Cape Town. The exhibits, which either belonged to Napoleon […]

The town of La Roche-sur-Yon (France) is organising an exhibition entitled “The Emperor in private: Napoleon I – husband, father, lover” for which the Fondation Napoléon is lending ten objects from its collection. On the occasion of this exhibition at the Museum of that town, a catalogue will also be published with the support of […]

28 February – 19 May 2019, Admission free, Location: Room 1 Curator Francesca Whitlum-Cooper Working in a politically turbulent Paris, Louis-Léopold Boilly witnessed the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, and the Restoration of the French Monarchy. From controversially seductive interior scenes, which saw him get into trouble with the authorities, to ‘first-of-their-kind’ everyday street […]

The exhibition “Sir Hudson Lowe on St Helena”, at Plantation House opens on 14 April  2019. On the anniversary date of Sir Hudson Lowe’s arrival on St Helena, the Governor of the island will host an exhibition in her residence, which was also the residence of her famous predecessor.   Plantation House, St Helena

The exhibition is the first to gather such a large number of printed portraits of the sovereign: the exhibtion also tries to answer the question why there were so many produced at the time: the need to present the new French Empress, and then later the need to forget the uncomfortable role of “wife of […]

The ingenuity of the cabinetmakers at the end of the Ancien Régime, combined with the German taste for mechanical furniture, gave rise to skilful creations, sometimes very mysterious. This taste persisted into the 19th century, as brilliantly demonstrated by the chest of drawers and the secretary of cabinetmaker Simon-Nicolas Mansion (1773-1854), presented to Napoleon I […]

The Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris proposes the first major exhibition (at its François Mitterrand site) dedicated to the three members of the Nadar family. Félix Nadar (1820-1910), his brother Adrien Tournachon (1825-1903) and his son Paul Nadar (1856-1939) were all photographers, painters, artists and inventors… Some 300 pieces reveal the specificities of each of […]

On this occasion the Fondation Napoléon will be presenting at the Hôtel du département, Versailles a small  exhibition “Napoléon, homme de plume et grand lecteur” [“Napoleon, man of the pen and avid reader”] with items from its collection: autograph letters and books from Napoleon’s library – and will also spotlight the 15-volume edition of the General […]

This autumn, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (link in English) in Paris [France’s National Art school, ENSBA] is exhibiting thirty-four watercolours (from its collection of more than 40,000 architectural drawings) made by aspiring architects during the Second Empire (link in French). This exhibition “Bâtir sous le Second Empire” also reflects the architectural tastes as well as the […]

The “Imperial Boxes” show presents nearly eighty objects, both small and large, from the Fondation Napoléon’s collection, most of them probably everyday items (boxes for various purposes, inkwells, crockery, portraits, and travel necéssaires).These objects highlight another part of Napoleonic history: not the battles and conquests, but the sumptuous life of the imperial court and the […]