This old postcard is in actual fact a photograph of a statue of Napoleon I as protector of agriculture and industry. The work was completed by the French sculptor Henri Lemaire. The postcard shows the statue in its original location, the courtyard of the Vieille Bourse in Lille, where it resided between 1854 and 1976.
Commissioned by the Chambre de Commerce de Lille, this statue occupies a particularly original place in the emperor's iconographical cannon. Clothed in his imperial dress, Napoleon holds an imperial sceptre in one hand, whilst with the other he protects examples of local produce, including sugar beet and a cog-wheel used in the region's linen industry.
In 1976 the statue was removed, to be restored a few years later. Since 1996, it has made its home – sans pedestal – in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille.
Updated: October 2011
Statue of Napoleon I, protector of agriculture and industry in the courtyard of the Vieille Bourse, Lille (postcard)
Artist(s) : LEMAIRE Henri
- Date :
- 1854 (statue)
- Technique :
- Postcard
- Dimensions :
- H = 3 m, L = 1.25 m, P = 1.09 m
- Photo credit :
- © Fondation Napoléon