Close-ups : 50
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Close-upA close-up on: Robert Lefèvre (1755-1830), portrait painterRobert Lefèvre, portrait painter to the rich and famous, owed his remarkable success to his remarkable talent. And his genius brought him connections in high places (Denon was his champion) not to mention the emperor’s favour. Continuing his remarkable career right until the July Revolution…
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Close-upA close-up on: the Great Sanhedrin: Jews during the EmpireNapoleon took but little interest in the Jews when he came to power. It was only in 1806 that, when faced with mounting hostility to the Jews in France, Napoleon turned to the problem of Jewish integration in the Empire.
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Close-upA close-up on: Louis Lafitte (1770-1828), painter and draughtsmanLouis Lafitte was a painter and draughtsman specialising in allegories and great festivities, and he is perhaps best known for his famous work General Bonaparte proclaiming the Cisalpine Republic. It was he who produced the trompe-l’oeil bas-reliefs on the ‘temporary’ Arc de triomphe of erected…
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Close-upA close-up on: the Polish campaign: Eylau (8 February, 1807)On 8 February, 1807, there took place the appalling (and inconclusive) bloodbath at Eylau, pitching French against Prussian and Russian forces, 66,500 men versus 82,500 respectively. Despite the fact that both sides lost thousands of men, Eylau is usually recorded as a French victory since…
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Close-upA close-up on: the promulgation of the French Code Civil, 21 March 1804Comprising 36 laws and 2,281 articles, arranged in three parts consecrated to people, goods and property, written in a clear and concise style so as to avoid any ambiguity, the Code civil was “a body of laws designed to direct and fix social, familial and commercial…
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Close-upThe proclamation of Empire, 18 May 1804Contrary to a widely held belief, it was not the coronation (Sacre) of 2 December, 1804, which “created” the Napoleonic Empire but rather a Sénatus-consulte adopted by the Sénat during its meeting of 18 May, 1804. The ensemble of documents presented on Napoleonica® les archives…
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Close-upA close-up on: the coronation of Napoleon I (otherwise known as the “Sacre”)On 2 December, 1804, the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris was the stage on which the coronation of Napoleon I was played out, in the presence of Pope Pius VII. The new emperor broke with tradition by crowning himself and pronouncing an oath guaranteeing the…
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Close-upA close-up on: Napoleon crowned king of Italy, 26 May 1805 in MilanIt was in Milan, on 26 May 1805, that Napoleon was crowned King of Italy.
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Close-upA close-up on: 1803: the purchase of Louisiana by the US from FranceDiscovered by the Spanish in the 16th century, Louisiana was explored a century later by the Frenchman, Robert Cavalier de la Salle (1643-1682). He gave this land to the French king as a present. In 1699, Pierre Le Moyne de Bienville (1680-1768) took possession of…
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Close-upA close-up on: Trafalgar, 21 October, 1805On 21 October, 1805, the allied Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Villeneuve was ‘annihilated’ by the British fleet under Admiral Nelson.