Publisher’s presentation:
The publication focuses on portrait miniatures created during the time of the French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte (1795 to 1815). It includes colour images of 147 portrait miniatures in the Tansey Collection, both in their actual size and showing many enlarged details. The miniatures are remarkable for their high artistic quality and their craftsmanship. Unlike the dramatically exaggerated French portraits from before the Revolution, we see here realistic people who look remarkably modern – a gallery of women, men and children from a time of political upheaval dominated by wars. In a set of richly illustrated essays, renowned experts in the field provide several different perspectives on the miniature portraits.
The Tansey Foundation
Around fifty years ago, the German-American couple, Liselotte and Ernest Tansey started their collection of miniatures. Over time, their passion drove the development of one of the largest and best collections of European portrait miniatures. After the death of the couple in 2016, the entire contents of the collection were transferred to the foundation which the couple had jointly established, the Tansey Miniatures Foundation. The volume here is the seventh in a series which introduces the Tansey collection, whereby each volume explores a different era.
Essays:
Bernd Pappe: Miniatures from the Time of Napoleon in the Tansey Collection
Bernd Pappe: “Aim less for perfect similarity than to reproduce the beautiful ideal”. Miniature Portraits of Napoleon I
Nathalie Lemoine-Bouchard: Aimée Thibault (Bordeaux, 1784 – Paris, 1868) and Her Miniature Paintings of the King of Rome
Bernardo Falconi: Portrait Miniature in Milan during the Napoleonic Era
Hans Boeckh: Genevan Enamel Miniatures at the Turn of the 19th Century