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AS THE 1812 BICENTENARY APPROACHES...
... more details of the various events planned to mark the Russian campaign will be released. This week's letter comes complete with news of no fewer than three events taking place over the coming months: as well as the Fondation Napoléon's own international conference (scheduled for April), we also have information on a short-stay exhibition dedicated to the two emperors that is on at the Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art in Moscow, and a call for papers that has been launched by the International Napoleonic Society, the State Borodino War and History Museum, and the Institute of World History, organisers of an upcoming conference set for July. Our 200 years ago section also continues to trace the developments leading up to the outbreak of war, which this week sees Napoleon agree a treaty of alliance with Austria. For those interested in 19th-century fashion and in the London-area, an upcoming tour of the Apsley House collections could well be just your cup of tea. Back to history on the web, and we have a new art file on Ingres' The Turkish Bath - our latest painting of the month - as well as a couple of book reviews featured in the recent edition of Napoleonica. La Revue. For those keeping tabs, we also have a link to the March 2012 financial summary for our St Helena fundraising campaign. Rounding off the letter in the usual way is 150 years ago, which takes a look at the creation of the Musée des Antiquités nationales.
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH
The Turkish bath, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
The frequent appearance of female bathers and odalisques in Ingres' paintings stemmed from the artist's fascination with the female nude and his search for the classical ideal. This quest - one might even say obsession - reached its climax towards the end of his career with The Turkish Bath. The painting sees Ingres give free rein to his idealised vision of the Orient, a symphony of lines, arabesques, and curves that bring together numerous leitmotifs of the artist's oeuvre, and glorify the contoured female form.
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WHAT'S ON
"The Two Emperors", Moscow, Russia
This exhibition, which is on at the Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art until 15 March, takes a look at the relationship between the two emperors - Alexander I and Napoleon I. The relationship between Alexander and Napoleon - which combined friendship and enmity - was woven with paradox: a peace-loving Russian emperor who nevertheless initiated war with France, and the warlike Emperor of the French who constantly sought an alliance with Russia. On offer to the visitor is a wide variety of objects and works of art, taken primarily from the private collection of Russian businessman Alexander Vihrova.
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International conference: "Napoleon's 1812 Russian Campaign in the World History: a Retrospective View", Mozhaysk, Russia
The International Napoleonic Society, the State Borodino War and History Museum, and the Institute of World History (Russian Academy of Science) are organising an international conference for July 2012, to be held in Mozhaysk, near Moscow, Russia. The organisers are currently accepting paper proposals for the event, which will run between 9 and 13 July. Proposals that offer a wider analysis of the Russian campaign, including its impact across the continent and the involvement of the various European powers of the era, are particularly welcome. Full details and suggested subjects can be found in the What's on file on napoleon.org.
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English Heritage Lecture Series: "Historic costume and portraits in the collection", London, UK
On 13 March at 6pm, Natalie Garbett, a specialist maker of historical clothing, will introduce visitors to Apsley House, the former home of the Duke of Wellington, to early nineteenth-century fashion. Taking in examples of clothing, accessories and paintings seen in the Apsley House art collection, visitors will learn about the changing fashions brought about by a radically changing society and the effect the Napoleonic wars had on male and female trends. Read up on the evolution from formal and structured clothing of the eighteenth-century to the new "Empire" line in the Fashion section on napoleon.org.
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
Book reviews in Napoleonica. La Revue
As well as articles and commentaries, Napoleonica. La Revue also publishes book and event reviews. The latest edition, issue n° 12, features Thierry Lentz's review of the Luigi Mascilli Miglionrini-edited Italia Napoleonica: Dizionario Critico, and François Houdecek's write-up of napoleon.org's recent French book of the month, Bruno Colson's Napoléon. De la guerre.
OPERATION ST HELENA
Update: March 2012
The new project financial summary up to 1 March is now available on napoleon.org.
200 YEARS AGO
The Franco-Austrian treaty
Hot on the heels of the imperial treaty with Prussia, on 14 March 1812, an alliance between France and Austria was formally agreed and signed. Despite reservations regarding the country's ability to weather the upcoming war, Metternich, the Austrian Foreign Minister, knew that participation in what he saw as Austria's "guerre de conservation" was inevitable. Key amongst the stipulations was Austria's commitment to provide 30,000 men, commanded by an Austrian general, who would participate in the upcoming Russian campaign (although they were exempt from involvement in any conflict with Spain or Britain). Napoleon initially wanted Archduke Charles to command the auxiliary force, but eventually it was the equally respected Karl Philip von Schwarzenberg, then Austrian ambassador in Paris, who was appointed. A key element of the treaty was the agreement that, in the event of a new 'independent' Poland emerging from the forthcoming war, Austria was to sign over Galicia, receiving in exchange the Illyrian Provinces.
150 YEARS AGO
Creation of the Musée des Antiquités nationales
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which had served numerous French kings since its construction in the twelfth-century and had been a military academy during the First Empire, had lain in disrepair for much of the Second Empire period. On 8 March 1862, Napoleon III signed an imperial decree announcing the creation of the Musée d'antiquités celtiques et gallo-romaines in the château. The intention, fuelled by the emperor's archaeological digs as part of his work on Julius Caesar and the resulting need for somewhere to store the recovered ancient artefacts, was to offer a museum dedicated to the entirety of early French history, from the Gauls through to Charlemagne. Reported in the Moniteur Universel of 13 March, oversight of the museum was given to Claude Rossignol, who had impressed the emperor with his work on Alesia and was named assistant curator. Charged with the restoration of the château was the architect Eugène Millet, who began work in 1864. Although inaugurated on 12 May 1867, the work was only finally completed in 1907. In 2005, the museum was renamed the Musée d'Archéologie nationale.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 618, 9 - 15 MARCH 2012
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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
- Adventurous Pursuits of a Peninsular War and Waterloo Veteran: The Story of Private James Smithies, 1st Royal Dragoons, edited by Gareth Glover
Press review
- History Today March 2012
- Mail Online: theft of objects belonging to Lord Nelson
- Tides of War named on Orange Prize longlist
- RT: newly-refurbished Borodino museum reopens
Seen on the web
- Proceedings of the JOUHS Colloquium 2009: "An Odd Alliance: William Beresford and Don João"
- History Today spotlight: student resources on the French Revolution
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.
Conferences
- "1812, la campagne de Russie: Regards croisés sur une guerre européenne", Paris, France [04/04/2012 - 05/04/2012]
Full details
- "Napoleon's 1812 Russian Campaign in the World History: a Retrospective View", Mozhaysk, Russia [09/07/2012 - 13/07/2012]
Full details
Exhibitions
- "La Berline de Napoléon: le mystère du butin de Waterloo", Paris, France [07/03/2012 - 08/07/2012]
Full details
- "The Two Emperors", Moscow, Russia [15/02/2012 - 15/03/2012]
Full details
Talks
- "Historic costume and portraits in the collection", London, UK [13/07/2012]
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
Between Tuesday 21 February and Thursday 1 March, the library will be open on Tuesdays (1.30pm – 6pm), Wednesdays (1.30pm – 6pm) and Thursdays (10am – 3pm).
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