Paintings : 22
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PaintingPortrait of Otto von Bismarck in 1870 [Photograph]
When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) was at the head of the Prussian state and had been King Wilhelm’s direct right-hand man for over seven years. He had been recalled from his post as ambassador to France in September 1862 to take up the position of Minister President of the Kingdom […]
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PaintingLa Ménagerie impériale, composée des ruminants, amphibies, carnivores et autres budgétivores qui ont dévoré la France pendant 20 ans [the Imperial Menagerie, featuring ruminants, amphibians, carnivores, and other state-funding-ivores who have been devouring France for the last 20 years]
The Second Empire, it is true, was built upon the idea of the First, but the liberalisation of the Second (from 1861 on) was not a step that the uncle ever took; at least not until the extraordinary Hundred Days, and even then only half-heartedly. As a result, the political caricatures that assailed Napoleon I […]
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PaintingPortrait of Marshal Lannes
This portrait of Jean Lannes (1769-1809), today held at the Musée de l’Armée in Paris, was painted in 1834 by Julie-Louise Volpelière. It was commissioned from the painter for the future Musée d’Histoire de France de Versailles, a project of King Louis-Philippe’s. In this work, Volpelière was in fact copying a portrait made by Baron […]
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PaintingA photographic portrait of Comte Émilien de Nieuwerkerke (1811-1892), intendant des Beaux-Arts (1853), honorary chamberlain of the Emperor (1859)
It was the job of photographer Léon Crémière (1831-1913) to photograph the members of the “Maison de l’Empereur” [the Emperor’s Household], and the shot here is his magnificent portrait (1861) of Émilien de Nieuwerkerke, an essential figure in the artistic life of the Second Empire, who at the time had been intendant des Beaux-Arts since […]
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PaintingPortrait of Queen Victoria and Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom
This portrait by an unknown artist represents Queen Victoria (1819-1901) with the youngest of her nine children, Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (1857-1944). Judging from the height and maturity of the young princess, the work can probably be dated to the later 1860s. Since the death of her husband the Prince Consort, Albert of […]
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PaintingPortrait of Jerome Bonaparte on the bridge of a ship
This portrait of Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860), Napoleon’s younger brother, depicts a scene from his early adult life (from 1800 to 1806) spent in the French navy. It was painted by the prolific Flemish portraitist François-Joseph Kinson (1771–1839) (or Kinsoen with the original Flemish spelling) who would later be chosen as Jerome’s official painter when the latter […]
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PaintingPortrait of Germaine Necker, Baronne de Staël-Holstein, dite “Madame de Staël” (1766-1817)
This picture of Germaine de Staël was painted by Marie Éléonore Godefroid (1778-1849), a pupil of the famous court portrait painter during the Empire and the Restoration, Baron Gérard. Godefroid became Gérard’s assistant from 1795, and from the 1800s she presented her own paintings, often portraits of the offspring of well-known figures (the children of […]
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Painting / Directory / 1st EmpirePortrait of Treasury Minister François-Nicolas Mollien
On his return from Austerlitz, Napoleon decreed on 17 March, 1806, that his ministers should be painted by some of the best painters of the era (Gros, Kinson, Prudhon, Lefèvre inter alia) and that these likenesses should hang in the salon adjacent to the Salon des Maréchaux in the Tuileries Palace. Amongst these ‘civilian marshals’ […]
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Painting / 2nd Republic / 2nd EmpireThe Congress of Paris, 25 February – 30 March 1856
Édouard-Louis Dubufe was the son of the painter Claude-Marie-Paul Dubufe and a student of Jacques-Louis David. When this painting was commissioned for Versailles, Dubufe had already produced famous portraits such as that of the dramatic actress Rachel in 1850 and the portrait of the Empress Eugenie in 1854. A highly political picture The painting commemorated […]
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Painting / Directory / 1st EmpireThe Meeting of Wellington and Blücher after the Battle of Waterloo
See this painting in HD Following the destruction of the old London Houses of Parliament in a fire in 1834, the new “Mother of Parliaments” was rebuilt and decorated in the 1850s. For the Royal Gallery, the Fine Arts Commission (led by Prince Albert) decided on a decorative scheme of 18 monumental frescos illustrating British […]