EDITORIAL
THE FORM MAY BE (TEMPORARILY) DIFFERENT BUT THE CONTENT REMAINS THE SAME
Our regular readers may have noticed in the last two weeks: delivery of our Newsletter to our subscribers has been somewhat hampered. But let not these technical setbacks be a source of discouragement: Here is the Newsletter, in a somewhat unusual format to accompany you during the Christmas holidays. We will see you all soon in early January 2016, for a year packed with events: the announcement of the details of the exhibition Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène, La conquête de la mémoire, at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris in April is only the beginning!
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The web team of the Fondation Napoléon
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PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ARCHIVES NATIONALES
On Monday 14 December, 2015, a partnership agreement was signed at the Fondation Napoléon's offices in Paris between the Archives Nationales (the French National Archives) and the Fondation Napoléon, represented respectively by the Director of the Archives Nationales, Françoise Banat-Berger and the President of the Fondation Napoléon, Victor-André Massena, Prince of Essling.
Find out the details of this collaboration.
OBJECT OF THE MONTH > NAPOLÉON S’ÉVEILLANT À L’IMMORTALITÉ (NAPOLEON AWAKENS TO IMMORTALITY)
When the sculptor François Rude made this bronze for his friend Claude Noisot, in the 1840s the latter had already created a veritable shrine to the glory of Napoleon and the First Empire on the lands he had acquired in Burgundy. This original representation of the Emperor, which was surely the icing on the cake, was inaugurated in 1847 by the future Napoleon III.
FONDATION NAPOLÉON
SUPPORTING THE WORK OF THE FONDATION
The St. Helena restoration appeal completed this year was a great success thanks to you. Other challenges await the Fondation Napoléon. If you appreciate our work you can support us by making a donation via the appropriate form, and even chose which projects your money will support.
REMINDER > CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
The Fondation Napoléon will be closed from midday on 24 December, 2015 and will reopen on 4 January 2016. Because of the closure, the library will be open for limited hours during the school holidays: Monday 21 and Tuesday, 22 December, from 13h to 17h. Readers are welcome back at the usual opening times, from Monday, 4 January, 2016.
EXHIBITION > DELACROIX ET L’ANTIQUE’ (DELACROIX AND ANTIQUITY)
A new temporary exhibition at the Musée National Eugène-Delacroix in Paris focuses on the close relationship that Delacroix had with works of Antiquity and includes a number of works from the Louvre's Department of Antiquities. As a protégé of Talleyrand and the Duke of Morny, Delacroix was received at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1857, the same year in which he began his Dictionnaire des Beaux-Arts (Dictionary of Fine Arts), left unfinished at his death in 1863 and which has largely inspired this exhibition.
SECOND EMPIRE
EXHIBITION > FRANCESCHINI PIETRI, SECRETARY TO NAPOLEON III
Until 9 May 2016, the Palais Fesch in Ajaccio (Corsical) is holding an exhibition on the personal secretary of Napoleon III who followed the deposed Emperor into exile in Britain and lived with the Prince Imperial and Empress Eugenie until her death. He is buried not far from the Imperial family at Farnborough Hill.
MEMORIAL MASS
A commemorative mass will be held on 9 January 2016 at the Church of Saint Augustin in Paris on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Napoleon III.
CHÂTEAU DE FONTAINEBLEAU
> THE CHINESE MUSEUM CREATED BY EMPRESS EUGENIE REOPENS
The “Chinese Museum” (external link in English) created in 1863 by Empress Eugénie at the Château de Fontainebleau has re-opened to the public having been closed for several months following the burglary on 1 March this year. While some of the collection of rare and valuable Asian art came from the imperial depository (principally revolutionary plunder) ,others were the result of the raid of the Summer Palace in Beijing by the Franco-British expeditionary force in 1860 as well as diplomatic gifts from the King of Siam. To accompany this reopening , the HistoPad, (a touch pad that uses augmented reality, 3D and geolocation) offers visitors an interactive exploration of the exhibited collection as well as of objects that have disappeared – including the King of Siam's crown, a gift presented by his ambassadors to Napoleon III during the official visit of 1861, a Tibetan mandala and a chinese enamel chimera of the reign of Qianlong (1736-1795). The tool (available in twelve languages) also offers a recontextualization of the major pieces in their original setting at the Summer Palace in Beijing, as well as a virtual tour of Empress Eugenie's Salon des Laques. Press release in French.
> A ROOM AT THE MUSEE NAPOLEON I FOR THE BONAPARTE FAMILY IN EXILE
It has been announced that a room at the Musée Napoleon Ier also at Fontainebleau is to be dedicated to members of the Bonaparte family who fled France after the Second fall of the Empire in 1815.
A DATE FOR YOUR 2016 DIARY!
The Musée de l'Armée has announced the program for the exhibition which opens there next April, Napoleon at St Helena, the Conquest of MemoryNapoleon at St Helena, the Conquest of Memory, which will provide a rare chance to see the furniture that surrounded Napoleon during his last years spent at Longwood house on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena. The recent restoration of this furniture in France was partially funded by the appeal organised by the Fondation Napoleon, the French Ministry of Foreign affairs and the French Domains of St Helena. Several conferences are also planned as well as a program of concerts, starting with “Beethoven and the Emperor”. (both external links in French). We will be informing you of these events in more detail nearer the time.
TIARAS BELONGING TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE AND DÉSIRÉE CLARY WORN BY ROYALTY
Figaro Madame recently published a series of photos about the most beautiful crown jewels owned by monarchies around the world. Two tiaras from the First Empire feature in the slideshow:
– a diadem of diamonds and rubies, once worn by Désirée Clary (once the fiancé of Napoleon) during Napoleon's coronation ceremony, and now worn by the royalty of Denmark.
– a diadem in gold and cameos, given to the Empress Josephine by Napoleon, and now owned by the Swedish royalty. This portrait of Josephine from 1813/1814 by Ferdinand-Paul-Louis Quaglia shows her wearing it.
YOUNG HISTORIANS > CAROLINE MURAT, THE GRAND DUCHESSE OF BERG AND OF CLÈVES
In this new document especially for our younger readers, discover the story of Napoleon's ambitious younger sister, Caroline, who married Joachim Murat, eventually becoming Queen of Naples. Her portrait by Elizabeth Louise VIGÉE LE BRUN is currently part of the exhibition dedicated to the painter at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young (with Tiara Ataii)