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THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY
... of the two empires, France and Italy have always enjoyed close ties. The letter this week recognises this shared history. Our objet d'art is the magnificently ornate cradle that once belonged to the Roi de Rome, son of Napoleon and Marie-Louise of Austria. Continuing the empress motif, we have details of the twelfth Marie-Louise week at the Museo Glauco Lombardi in Parma, which this year is celebrating the life of the museum's founder. Returning to Paris and you will find information on the latest events in the Musée de l'Armée's continuing commemoration of a momentous episode in Italian national history: a series of films inspired by the Risorgimento. Heading offshore, this week's selection from the digital library is a document on the history and geography of Elba, where Napoleon spent three hundred days in exile. We round off the letter with our usual 200 and 150 years ago, plus directions to our Facebook page, which is where you'll find the announcement of our 2011 Grand Prix and Study Grants next week. Finally, as with last week's letter, we have a link to the Napoleonic Historical Society's website, where you can purchase their new 1812-2012 calendar. $10 from every copy sold will go to Operation St Helena.
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OBJET D'ART OF THE MONTH
The Roi de Rome's cradle
On 20 March, 1811, the Empress Marie Louise gave birth to the heir to the imperial throne, the Roi de Rome, or King of Rome. Two weeks earlier, the Prefect of the Département de la Seine, Frochot, and the Conseil Municipal (Paris town council) had offered on behalf of the Ville de Paris (City of Paris) a cradle fit for the longed-for future emperor. A traditional present for this sort of event, the cradle of the Roi de Rome is remarkable for its extraordinary magnificence. Many artists worked on its creation. The painter Prud'hon made the plans, the bronze- and goldsmiths Thomire and Odiot founded and chased it in gilt silver, the sculptor Roguier modelled the figures. A work of almost unbelievable opulence, the cradle is one of the finest pieces of imperial furniture.
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WHAT'S ON
The Risorgimento at the Musée de l'Armée, Paris, France
As part of the "Napoleon III and Italy" exhibition currently taking place at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris, the museum is playing host to a series of Italian films based on the Risorgimento. The series features four well-known Italian films (with French subtitles), including Roberto Rossellini's Viva l'Italia and Luchino Visconti's "Il Gattopardo", whose all-star cast includes Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon.
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Marie-Louise week at the Museo Glauco Lombardi, Parma, Italy
The Museo Glauco Lombardi in Parma, Italy, is getting set for the 12th Marie-Louise week, which runs between 10 and 18 December. This particular edition of Marie-Louise week - dedicated to Glauco Lombardi - marks the 50th anniversary of the museum's opening in the Palazzo di Riserva: it was fifty years ago this year that the eponymous founder moved his collection from his home town of Parma da Colonno to the museum's current site. On the programme: a presentation of the latest edition of the museum's periodical, Quaderni del Museo Lombardi; a conference on Glauco Lombardi; and a monographic exhibition.
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FONDATION NAPOLEON
The Fondation Napoléon on Facebook
The Fondation Napoléon, intent as ever to play an active role in the social media revolution and the development of history resources on the internet, has a Facebook page. On it you will find daily updates on the history of the two empires - in English and in French - from both napoleon.org and further afield. If you feel a week is too long between your regular Napoleonic bulletins, clicking "Like" on our page will ensure that all the latest updates are incorporated into your feed. Never again will you miss out on the latest goings on in the Napoleonic world. And be sure to keep an eye on the page next week, as on Tuesday 29 November, we'll be announcing the results of the Fondation Napoléon Grand Prix and Study Grants for 2011.
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DIGITAL LIBRARY
Notice sur l'île d'Elbe, contenant la description de ses villes, augmentées de l'itinéraire du voyage de Buonaparte jusqu'au lieu de son embarquement
This week, we're inviting readers to take a trip around Elba with our latest selection from the Fondation Napoléon's digital library. The document features a short history and a description of the main ports, towns, and fortified sites, as well as a beautiful map (page 28) of the island that Napoleon ruled during his exile there in 1814 and 1815.
200 YEARS AGO
The premiere of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5: "the Emperor Concerto"
In Leipzig on 28 November 1811, Beethoven's famous Piano Concerto No. 5, known as "the Emperor Concerto", received its debut, with the piano solo played by Friedrich Schneider. A certain aura of mystery surrounds the nickname given to Beethoven's last piano concerto: the composer's dislike for Napoleon - he famously scrubbed his name from the title page of the Eroica symphony - was well-known, and the name was never officially sanctioned. It is generally accepted that the name came from the concerto's English publisher, a German/English friend of Beethoven (and renowned pianist and composer) Johann Baptist Cramer, whilst justification for it has been found in the piece's "heroic" motifs. Despite certain inconsistencies (for a fuller discussion of the "heroic" themes, see "Myth and Misinterpretation in Beethoven's Emperor Concerto", by Andrew Schartmann (external link)), the name has stuck.
150 YEARS AGO
American Civil War: The Trent Affair hits the news
James Mason and John Slidell - two Confederate diplomats - set off for Europe on the British mail packet, the RMS Trent, on 8 November 1861, aiming to press for the Confederacy's diplomatic recognition, thereby finding allies in their fight against the North. Catastrophe however struck. The ship was intercepted off Cuba by the USS San Jacinto, commanded by the Unionist captain Charles Wilkes, and the two diplomats were seized as "contraband". Whilst an uneasy neutrality with Britain was maintained (see bulletin n° 584), the London press was furious, as was the British prime minister, Lord Palmerston (who was deeply hostile towards the USA and - during an emergency meeting called just after news of the event reached Britain – announced simply "I don't know whether you are going to stand this, but I'll be damned if I do..."). War seemed inevitable, as was explained in a translation of a Morning Post article that appeared in the Moniteur Universel on 29 November:
"The United States government has committed an act of a most serious nature. On its orders, four passengers aboard the Trent, which had invoked the protection of our flag, were arrested by force. [...] The officers of the Crown [will decide] as to the legality of [this act]. [...] The insult was, in any case, without motive; and if, as we believe, it cannot be justified according to the code of nations, it will not only be profoundly felt, but avenged as it is due."
However the tension was defused when the royal couple was consulted on the matter, and Albert, by now on his deathbed, indicated that a tempered, less belligerent response was needed - "the expression of a hope" - if war was to be avoided. President Lincoln eventually decided on a policy of "one war at a time", and the Confederate diplomats were released. War was averted, and the diplomats continued on their journey. The South's European mission however was to prove unsuccessful and they returned home empty handed.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 605, 25 NOVEMBER – 1 DECEMBER, 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
- Poverty, Gender and the Life-Cycle under the English Poor Law, 1760-1834, by Samantha Williams
- Trafalgar (Tales from the Front Line), by Peter Warwick
Press review
- History Today December 2011
- Lucy Worsley in bid to make history as popular as The X Factor
- Belgium calls for return of Rubens work stolen during the Revolutionary Wars
- Book review: Castlereagh: From Enlightenment to Tyranny, by John Bew
Seen on the web
- Perceval biography on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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.
Cinema
- The Risorgimento in Italian cinema, Paris, France [06/12/2011 - 09/12/2011]
Full details
Exhibitions
- Napoleon III and Italy: birth of a nation 1848-1870, Paris, France [06/10/2011 - 15/01/2012]
Full details
Festivals
- Marie-Louise Week at the Museo Glauco Lombardi, Parma, Italy [10/12/2011 - 18/12/2011]
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
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
Online catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
ACCOUNT DETAILS
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