From the publishers:
Visiting the Opera House during its construction phase, the French empress Eugenie took it upon herself to interrogate Charles Garnier on the historical inspiration behind the building’s décor: “But what is the style? It’s not classical, it’s not mediaeval, it’s not Renaissance.” “It is Second Empire, Ma’am,” replied the architect. The rest of this dialogue – whether real or imagined – is not reported but we can be reasonably certain that it would have given the sovereign much food for thought. This new aesthetic – governed by the principle of eclecticism – was to constitute a individual style all of its own, one of complexity, subtlety and incredible creativity. Not only did it take its inspiration from all that had gone before – prioritising no single historical movement in particular – but it succeeded in renewing it at the same time. An artistic and decorative historicism, the style embraced various different stylistic references, combining multiple sources – both historical (ranging from the Renaissance to the end of the 18th century) and geographical (most notably oriental) -, techniques and materials to produce an often troubling polyphony. And within this eclecticism of Second Empire style stood the recurring principle of comfort and not a little solemnity.
This highly original book throws open to its readers the doors of the palace salons and private townhouses – including the Palais des Tuileries, the châteaux at Compiègne, Saint-Cloud and Pierrefonds, the Rothschild family’s château at Ferrière, and Waddesdon Manor – which contributed to the splendour of the Second Empire and its international reputation. The work explores the birth and development of a new “art de vivre” which provided the spiritual basis for modern-day residences.
This book was awarded the 2010 Fondation Napoléon history prize for a work on the Second Empire.
About the author
Professor of art history at the Université Paris IV-Sorbonne, Gabriel Badea-Päun has organised numerous public exhibitions. He is the author of a biography on Elisabeth of Wied (Carmen Sylva, Bucharest, Editions Humanitas, 2003 and 2007) and of Portraits de société (Citadelles & Mazenod, 2007) for which he was awarded the Cercle Montherland-Académie des Beaux-Arts prize in 2008.