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AS ITALY...
... gears up to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its unification, this week's letter brings you details of just some of the events taking place over the next few weeks, both in Italy and abroad. Alongside news of exhibitions and museum openings ("Making Italians" opens in Turin, whilst Rome is busy preparing for the inauguration of the Museo della Repubblica Romana e della Memoria Garibaldina), we also have information on Washington, DC's National Gallery of Art, which is hosting a week of Italian Risorgimento films from 12 to 19 March. The rest of the letter is also distinctly Italian in tone: our painting of the month this time around is Prud'hon's bucolic "Portrait of the Roi de Rome", whilst 200 and 150 years ago concern, respectively, the build-up to the birth of Napoleon's heir, and King Victor Emmanuel II's proclamation as King of Italy. This week also sees the release of issue n° 9 of Napoleonica. La Revue, which includes articles on Napoleonic legitimacy, British writings on Napoleon, French prisoners of war and the Illyrian provinces. Finally, we also have details of the latest National Army Museum lunchtime lecture, which will discuss Victorian Military Philanthropy and Sir James Gildea.
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH
Portrait of the Roi de Rome, by Pierre Paul Prud'hon
Unlike the heavy-handed royal imagery of Callet's Allégorie sur la naissance de Sa Majesté le Roi de Rome, which was also exhibited at the 1812 salon, the strength of Prud'hon's painting lies in the power of suggestion. In this work (currently on display at the "Enfance impériale" exhibition at Fontainebleau), radiant, early morning light gently caresses the babe, put to bed in surroundings of natural serenity. Above his head is an archway of imperial crown fritillaries, a reference to his maternal bloodline, and palm leaves, which allude to the successes of his father, with, in the background, an abundance of laurel. Blue drapes, a white cushion and the crimson cover form the tricolour; although arranged naturally, these objects constitute the only artificial elements in this scene of gentle and benevolent nature.
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
Issue n° 9 out now
Issue n° 9 of Napoleonica. La Revue throws open its pages to the legal history of the Napoleonic period with two in-depth studies, from Clémence Zacharie and Alain Desrayaud, which take a look - directly and indirectly - at the issue of Napoleonic legitimacy. Edi Milos discusses the Illyrian Provinces, Peter Hicks throws some light on British writings on Napoleon from the late 18th- and early 19th-centuries, and Patrick Le Carvèse returns with part two of his statistical study of French prisoners of war in Great Britain. There are also two book reviews (Johannes Willims' Napoleon III. Frankreichs Letzter Kaiser, and Ian Robertson's Atlas of the Peninsular War) and an exhibition review ("Ecrins impériaux"). Everything in Napoleonica. La Revue, the Fondation Napoléon's academic journal on the history of the two Empires, is available free of charge via Cairn.info.
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WHAT'S ON
Risorgimento commemorations
With the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy fast approaching, the country is gearing up to commemorate the event with a series of events taking place next week and throughout the year. Turin will be hosting an exhibition entitled "Making Italians", which takes a look at the history of Italy from unification to present day, whilst the evening of 16 March will be marked by parades, ceremonies in honour of Victor Emmanuel II and events in towns and cities across Italy. The inauguration of the Museo della Repubblica Romana e della Memoria Garibaldina in Rome, which tells the story of the short-lived Roman Republic, is also set for 17 March. On the same day, in Palmanova, Udine, the Souvenir Napoléonien North Italian delegation and the Comune di Palmanova are organising a book event for the publication of Carlo Zucchi: Per l'Italia e per Napoleone, edited by Ernesto Damiani and Paolo Foramitti. For more on Garibaldi and the Risorgimento, take a look at the Brown University Library Center's Garibaldi Panorama.
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The Risorgimento on film
The Esperienza Italia 150° website has its own YouTube channel (external link in Italian), where you can keep up to date on the various events taking place between now and November. In amongst the clips is footage from the opening of the "Vittorio Emanuele II, il Re galantuomo" (external link in Italian) in Turin, which runs until 13 March, whilst further videos will be added as the year goes on. And on the other side of the Atlantic, the Italian embassy in Washington is involved in organising a number of events to mark Italian unification. The National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC) is screening a series of films as part of their "Remembering Risorgimento" event, which runs from 12 to 19 March, and includes I Mille di Garibaldi by Alessandro Blasetti, The Leopard by Luchino Visconti, and Allonsanfan by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani.
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"Victorian Military Philanthropy: Sir James Gildea and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association", London, UK
"Victorian Military Philanthropy: Sir James Gildea and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association", the latest in the National Army Museum's lunchtime lectures, is set for 17 March at 12.30pm, and will be presented by Roger Stearn.
200 YEARS AGO
Paris awaits the Roi de Rome
By March, with Napoleon more and more anxious for the birth of his heir (Corvisart, Napoleon's private physician, was even moved to remark at the French emperor's worries for "so small and ordinary a thing"), Marie-Louise's exertions had been reduced to nothing more strenuous than a daily wander in the Tuileries gardens, along the Terrasse du Bord-de-l'Eau, as recorded by the Moniteur on 11 March, 1811. As had become the norm in Paris, this occurrence, much to Napoleon's displeasure, garnered a huge crowd of curious onlookers who thronged the avenues and terraces in between, desperate to catch a glimpse of the expecting empress. Napoleon subsequently ordered Fontaine to construct an underground tunnel connecting the palace apartments to the terrace: the imperial birth intervened, however, and the project came to fruition too late.
Keep an eye out next week for our close-up on the birth of the Roi de Rome.
150 YEARS AGO
The Kingdom of Italy proclaimed
On 17 March, 1861, the newly formed Italian parliament proclaimed Victor Emmanuel II King of Italy. The new kingdom did not yet however include Venice, which was still part of the Austrian Empire, and Rome, where the Pope resolved to remain. There, his temporal power was still guaranteed by a French garrison established after Louis-Napoleon, then president of the French republic, had overthrown the short-lived Roman Republic in 1849. And although Count Cavour, one of the principal architects behind the unification process, announced in his speech to the Italian lower house on 27 March, 1861, that "Rome, the nation's capital city in the eyes of the people, [must] be incorporated into Italy", it was not until 1870 that Rome officially became part of the unified Italy.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 575, 11 – 17 March, 2011
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© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon.
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OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced an international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena. All the details regarding the campaign as well as donation forms and advice for donating from outside France, can be found on napoleon.org.
FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery" link to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
MAGAZINE
Just published
- Inside the Regiment, by Carole Divall
Seen on the web
- Brown University Library Center for Digital Initiatives: The Garibaldi Panorama: Visualizing the Risorgimento
EVENTS
On now and coming up
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Exhibitions
- "Making Italians", Turin, Italy [17/03/2011 - 20/11/2011]
Full details
- "Enfance impériale - le roi de rome, fils de napoléon", Fontainebleau, France [28/02/2011 - 23/05/2011]
Full details
Film
- "Remembering Risorgimento", Washington, USA [12/03/2011 - 19/03/2011]
Full details
Study days
- Ateliers de la Fondation Napoléon: "Napoleon and the family", Créteil, France [31/03/2011]
Full details
Talks
- Book event: Carlo Zucchi: Per l'Italia e per Napoleone, Palmanova, Italy [17/03/2011]
Full details
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
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Winter opening hours
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The library will be closed exceptionally on Thursday 17 March, 2011.
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