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Operation St Helena
Don't forget that the deadline for subscribing to Operation St Helena is 30 December, so there is still time to make a donation and a difference!
In this week's letter...
we bring you a new painting of the month, the chasseur à cheval in full charge. We've also put together our Christmas and New Year's selection of books, CDs and DVDs for the festive season. Then we have some information about the awards ceremony for this years winners of the history prizes and research grants, which will take place next week under the auspices of France's TF1. In 200 years ago we take a look at the Abbé Pradt, Napoleon's ambassador in Poland and 150 Years ago is a focus on the opening of Boulevard du Prince Eugene and Haussmann's plans for Paris. On the right hand side, there's a veritable feast of Napoleonic news - from the coded letter which was just auctioned to a crop of recent publications.
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Painting of the Month
Officer of the Chasseurs à Cheval of the Garde Impériale charging.
It was at the Salon of 1812 that Théodore Géricault, a young painter fascinated by the spectacle of his time, exhibited this his first masterful painting. Géricault's inspiration for the work came from the simple street scene of a cart horse bolting, but he transformed it into a monumental equestrian portrait of Alexandre Dieudonné, a friend of his who was an officer in the Garde Impériale. Here, in the thick of the battle, the officer on his violently rearing horse turns in his saddle to give the signal to charge could be said to capture the sense of the impending disaster of the Russian Campaign.
If you're in Paris over Christmas, don't miss the exhibition Des Aigles et des Hommes, curated by (inter alios) the Fondation's very own François Houdecek.
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The Christmas and New Year Selection 2012-2013
The festive season is fast upon us, and we've compiled our annual Christmas and New Year Selection: a collection of books, CDs and DVDs of the highlights of publishing multimedia to do with the Napoleonic world. So whether it's gift ideas you're looking for, or an overview of 2012's “plums in the pudding”, this is great place to start.
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Napoleon Season on BBC Radio 3
This month BBC Radio 3 brings listeners a season of programming dedicated to Napoleon, in commemoration of the Russian Campaign and decline of the Grande Armée. Programmes will include various authors talking about the topic ‘Napoleon and Me', analysis of depictions of Napoleon in literature and of course those that focus on the music of the period, not least of all Tchaikovsky's majestic 1812 overture (only 20 or so hours left to listen online). You can find full details of the programming here. For those of you further afield than the UK, you can even listen online through the Radio 3 Website. On the right hand side, there's a review of Anthony Burgess' drama about Napoleon (and if you want to listen online to the drama, you've got two days left).
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Partnership with the cable channel Histoire
The Fondation Napoléon was approached by the French cable channel Histoire (a history channel and part of the TF1 group) about hosting the prizegiving 2012. This year the winners (whose names were announced in last week's letter) will receive their prizes at the channel's headquarters, also the home of TF1, in the presence of Nonce Paolini, the President of TF1, and Patrick Buisson, President of the History channel. In addition, the weekly history show will be devoted entirely to the Fondation Napoléon, its story and its work.
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200 Years Ago
"I could not have been more surprised about all the absurdities that the Abbé Pradt regaled me with for a whole hour. I could not make him see sense. It would appear that he has absolutely none of the qualities required for the post he occupies”, wrote Napoleon on 10 December, 1812. In fact, three days after and during its passage through Warsaw, he dismissed ambassador Dufour de Pradt. Though now he criticised him for not having the requisite practical attitude, Napoleon hadn't always been so displeased with the abbé. Among "the most original figures of the Napoleonic episcopate", according to J. Tulard, the former Sorbonne theology student owed his political rise to Talleyrand's patronage. After his exile in 1791, he served in the United States, returning to France on the recommendation of his relative Duroc. Napoleon made him his chaplain in 1804, and he nicknamed himself "Chaplain to the god Mars.” He became archbishop (without religious investiture) in Malines/Mechelen in 1808. He defended the position of the Emperor in favour of the Concordat, which earned him many enemies among both the French and foreign clergy. His loyalty won him the position of Napoleon's ambassador in Warsaw, a strategic position on the eve of the Russian campaign. Perhaps it was because of the publication of the History of the Embassy in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1812, in which he nicknamed Napoleon "Jupiter Scapin," terms which incurred the wrath of the Emperor and his supporters. Indeed, on St Helena, as Jacques-Olivier Boudon has written, "Napoleon could not find expressions too harsh for him". Embittered by his disgrace, the Abbé de Pradt did not hesitate to rally to Louis XVIII during the First Restoration.
150 Years Ago
This week 150 years ago marked the grand opening of the Boulevard du Prince Eugène by the Emperor. The Boulevard, later re-named Boulevard Voltaire was part of the second stage of Haussmann's plans, and connected the Place du Chateau d'Eau (now Place de la République) with Place du Trône (now Place de la Nation). To read more about Haussmann and the re-designing of Paris, see our bulletin N° 572, 18 - 24 February, 2011.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Andrew Miles
Historians and web editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N0 649, 7 - 13 DECEMBER, 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.
You can still donate online to the project via the Friends of the Fondation de France in the US here.
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MAGAZINE
Just Published
- Chiclana-Barrosa 5 March, 1811: The Eagles in Andalusia, by Natalia Griffon de Pleineville.
- Waterloo 1815: Captain Mercer's Journal, by A.C Mercer, ed. W.H Fitchett
- Hortense de Beauharnais: The Fateful Years of a Queen, by Dominik Guegel and Christina Egli
In the Press
- The Guardian writes about Anthony Burgess and his play about Napoleon, performed as part of BBC Radio 3's Napoleon Season.
- Napoleon's coded letter fetches €187, 500 at auction.
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
- Des Aigles et des Hommes at the Chateau de Vincennes [28/11/2012-24/02/2013, Paris, France]
NAPOLEON.ORG
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