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Objects

The reigns of Napoleon I and Napoleon III saw the visual arts change in extraordinary ways, from Neoclassicism to Eclecticism, from the beginning of Romanticism, to the start of Impressionism. (Re-)discover every month a new objet d'art or item of historical memorabilia, whether a famous masterpieces or by a lesser known artist.

By category

Numismatics, Sigillography

Objects : 3

Object / 2nd Republic / 2nd Empire, IIe République – 2nd Empire/2nd Republic-2nd Empire

Plebiscite of 8 May 1870: Medal bearing the portraits of Napoleon III and Napoleon Eugène Louis, Prince Imperial

The Napoleonic regime was essentially autocratic and popular, and from the Consulate period onwards, plebiscites or referenda were organised so that civil society could give its opinion on matters of constitutional law, namely: – on the establishment of the Consulate in 1799 after the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire (plebiscite of 7 February 1800), – […]
Object

Matrices of the Seal and Counter-Seal of His Majesty Napoleon I (1805)

The matrices of the Imperial Seal (consisting of a seal and a counter-seal) were made in 1805 by the engraver Nicolas-Guy-Antoine Brenet ( 1770-1846 ) and edited by Vivant Denon (1747-1826), Director of the Musée Napoléon. The Law on the State Seal was promulgated on 16 Pluviôse XIII (5 February 1805): “Article 1. The state […]
Object

5 Franc piece, Napoleon Emperor, 1806

On 5 December, 1360, king Jean II le Bon signed an ordonnance creating a new gold currency, the Franc, equal in value to one Livre Tournois. At the time, the term “franc” meant ‘autonomous’. The first Franc in the monetary history of France in fact evoked the recent return to liberty of the French king […]