“Bonaparte et l'Egypte, feu et lumières”, 14 October 2008 to 29 March 2009, Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe
The raging fires of battle and the dazzling light of discovery: that is what is on offer at this exhibition. The well-spaced but fluid progression leaves the visitor the luxury and time to read and digest the many information notices that narrate the presentation. Special audio-guides and videos have been conceived for the exhibition, and these multimedia interludes punctuate the route, often providing information on modern-day Egypt, or throwing light on the famous painting by Gros, Napoleon visiting the plague-stricken at Jaffa (external link).(1)
A century of history
cabaret égyptien (“Egyptian-style” tea service) that were destined for the Empress Joséphine.(6)
Egyptomania
Cheikh portraits,(8) such sketches by Girodet as the Turc de face (9) and the drawing by Géricault entitled Mamelouk retenant un cheval (10) (all external links).
This taste for Egypt is equally evident in the room dedicated to the style known as “retour d'Egypte” (“Return from Egypt-style”) of furnishings. Architecture also receives due attention, as do the circular panoramas, so popular during the 19th century, that trace the period's great feats with what verges on photographic precision.
The Second Empire and Egypt on the international scene
Egypt once again becomes order of the day with the arrival of Napoleon III, Napoleon I's nephew, to the throne. Public interest becomes even greater with the opening of the Universal Exhibition on 1867 in Paris, where an entire section is dedicated to the country, confirming its arrival on the international scene. The display included a pharaonic temple, an Arab palace as well as a caravanserai, and was completed with the assistance of Auguste Mariette, an Egyptologist who oversaw the safeguard of a number of Egyptian monuments.
Ismaïl Pacha, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, thus dedicated himself to the development and economic expansion of his country. In 1869, the Suez Canal was inaugurated, an event which marks the climax of the hundred years of Franco-Egyptian history retraced by the exhibition.
This exhibition successfully combines charm and historical interest in one visit, and certainly should not be missed.
Elodie Lerner (tr. and ed. H.D.W.)
The exhibition will also be on display at the Musée des Beaux-Arts from 16 May until 19 October 2009, with an additional section dedicated to Auguste Mariette.
The exhibition catalogue is available now, published by Hazan/IMA.
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