Objects : 132
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ObjectScale-model for Brongniard’s Palais de la Bourse
The Palais Impérial de la Bourse (Imperial Palace of the Stock Exchange) was conceived by Napoleon as part of a wider political and architectural program. Upon his coming to power with the coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon was determined to rebuild the political institutions of France which had for a decade been shaken by Revolution. […]
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ObjectThe Future of Statues
Magritte made four versions of this work, “L’Avenir des statues” (‘The Future of Statues’), in the period 1933 to 1937. He took a commercial plaster version of Napoleon’s death mask and painted onto it a deep-blue sky spotted with sunlit clouds. According to David Sylvester, it is only the polish on the plaster and the […]
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ObjectNapoleon’s terrestrial and celestial globes from Longwood
Both globes had been part of the furniture at Plantation House since 1805. In July 1816, the Governor Sir Hudson Lowe had them sent to Longwood House where they were installed in the parlour also known as the billiard room. Virtually all the witnesses of the exile mentioned in their writings these “two globes, one […]
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ObjectNapoléon s’éveillant à l’immortalité (Napoleon awakens to immortality)
This bronze – also known as “Le réveil de Napoléon” (Napoleon awakes) – is by the sculptor François Rude and was commissioned in early 1840 by Claude Noisot, a former grenadier-à-pied and captain of the Old Guard. This military man was a faithful devotee of the Emperor, and had participated in the campaigns in Austria […]
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ObjectThe Emperor’s campaign "gobelet"
The majority of glassware for the Maison de l’Empereur or Imperial Household came from the Montcenis crystal manufacturer. The Montcenis firm, established in 1787, had been the official crystal manufacturers to the monarch during the Ancien Régime, and they would play a significant role in the development of the French glass- and crystalware industry. So […]
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ObjectThe Reliquary of St Helena: souvenirs of the return of Napoleon’s Mortal Remains
After Napoleon’s death on 5 May 1821, a secular cult began to grow around him, propagated by the testimonies of the men and women who had accompanied him to St Helena. At the same time iconography in which Napoleon was compared to the mythological Prometheus became popular. The Napoleonic cult peaked at the time of […]
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ObjectPlaster death mask of the Emperor Napoleon I, Antommarchi subscription, 1833
In 1819, the anatomist, Francesco Antommarchi (1789-1838), was sent to St Helena as a doctor. He assisted the British physician Burton, who having found gypsum on the island, was able to take a death mask of the Emperor in several sections. Bertrand and Antommarchi took the central part (eyes, nose, mouth). This original mask, almost […]
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ObjectBanner of Louis Napoleon, King of Holland
On 5 June 1806, Napoleon appointed his brother, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, King of Holland. This was a tactical decision on Napoleon’s part to limit Holland’s independence by installing a puppet ruler, but it did not go according to plan. Louis took his duties as King extremely seriously: he adopted the Dutch form of his name, […]
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ObjectTreaty of the Seventh Coalition – Alliance between Great Britain and the King of Sardinia against Napoleon- Treaty of 9 April 1815 – Treaty of 25 March 1815
Authentic copy bearing the Royal Seal of Great Britain, signed by the Prince Regent, (the future George IV) and the Britsh Foreign Minister Lord Castlereagh. In 1815, the whole of Europe joined together against France, in reaction to Napoleon’s escape from Elba. The result of this alliance would be the disastrous Battle of Waterloo. This document is […]
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ObjectPortable writing case belonging to Marshal Lannes given by Napoleon 1er
Dimensions: Height: 32.2 (closed ) / 32.2 (open ) / 31 ( Case) Width: 33.2 (open ) Diameter: 6.3 (closed ) / 5.1 (open ) / 4 ( Case) On binding “DONNE PAR SA MAJESTE / L’EMPEREUR ET ROI / AU MARECHAL LANNES / DUC DE MONTEBELLO” (“GIVEN BY HIS MAJESTY / EMPEROR AND KING […]