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In this week's letter...
we've a jam packed itinerary. First up is our new Painting of the Month, Turner's watercolour of the Waterloo battlefield, which is currently on display in Paris as part of the exhibition Napoleon et l'Europe (which closes in 2 weeks time). The scene renders the bloody reality and desolation of war. Up next, we have a selection of events that are taking place: a new exhibition in Vitoria (Spain) and a book presentation in Oswego (USA) of a work of fiction about the Bonaparte legacy in America. We've also got reminders of exhibitions that are worth hurrying to see before their imminent closure. After that, we have a selection of Napoleonic news stories from this week, which are bound to pique your interest. As ever, you'll find details of new publications and other snippets from the press on the right hand side. Enjoy!
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Painting of the Month
The Field of Waterloo, by J.M.W Turner
In 1817, when J.M.W Turner submitted his name for the competition for the best painting of the battle, he had the winning work. Even though he had only spent a day at the battlefield, he had made scores of sketches in a journal now conserved at the Tate gallery. The final painting was first shown in 1818 at the Royal Academy, accompanied by the famous verse from Childe Harold. Constructed around the Hougoumont farm, where the right arm of the British army were based, he shows the wives of the soldiers searching for the corpses of their husbands by lamplight. This aquarelle is one of the studies he made for the painting. Also centred on Hougoumont, it shows a mix of debris and corpses, and there appears the monogram of George III and the N of Napoleon. Inextricably united in death, French infantrymen and cavalry lie dead among the Scots Guards - embodying the accounts of the survivors and Lord Byron's versification.
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What's On
1813 - The Decisive Battle. The Libereated City, Vitoria, Spain
This exhibition is being hosted to mark the bicentenary of the Battle of Vitoria in 1813.The exhibition offers an educational tour of this battle through written documents, audiovisual displays and a range of historic material that examines its consequences. The confrontation took place between the French troops who were escorting Joseph Bonaparte on his retreat, and a group of British, Spanish and Portuguese troops.
Adirondack Treasure: The Bonaparte Legacy, Oswego, New York (USA)
A talk by author Matthew J. Glavin about his new book The Adirondack Treasure: The Bonaparte Legacy, a work of fiction based on the Bonaparte family's links to America.
Closing Soon
Napoléon et l'Europe, Paris, France
This grand exhibition is now entering its last two weeks. Its role is to explore the various events, mainly political, through paintings, objects and documents representing different standpoints - from those who collaborated with Napoleon to those who disagreed and voiced their outright opposition.
Les Maisons des Bonaparte à Paris 1795-1804 - Watercolours by Christian Benilan, Ajaccio, Corsica
An exhibition of watercolours of the variosu residences owned by the Bonaparte family in Paris after Napoleon I's rise to power, painted by the artist Christian Benilan.
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Napoleonica in the News
This week saw various Napoleonic related news stories cropping up. Of interest to our readers and pertinent to the summer re-enactments, not least at Waterloo, there is a piece from the Chicago Reader about Napoleonic re-enactors and what fuels their passion. There is also a piece fom the New York Times about the War in Mexico in the 1860s, and though not strictly Napoleonic, day by day coverage of the events of the War of 1812 by the Vancouver Sun.
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150 Years Ago
An Emperor for Mexico
On 10 July 1863, a ‘national' assembly of notables gave Mexico a monarchy and an Emperor, chosen by Napoleon III: the Austrian archduke Ferdinand-Maximilian of Habsburg (brother of the Emperor of Austria, Franz-Joseph), who took the name Maximilian I. These choices were to do little to bring peace to the country; far from it. The French retreat, between february and March 1867 precipitated the fall of the regime. On 19 June 1867, Maximilian I was executed.
Here you can find our dossier dedicated to the Mexican Campaign: the reasons for it, its events and its diplomatic consequences.
200 Years Ago
The Comédie Française at Dresden
On 5 July 1813, Napoleon was still garrisoned at Dresden. The Comédie Française had been summoned to Dresden on 20 June, to entertain the Emperor and the troops. In his memoirs, Alexandre Dumas, recounting the experience of people he knew later in life, writes that “Talma and Saint-Prix arrived and the Comédie Française was almost complete. A theatre had been constructed for the troop in the orangery of the palace in which the Emperor was living”. Perhaps with a note of hindsight, he records how the atmosphere was “veiled by terror”. The first play performed was La Gaguere imprévue, and on 24 June the company performed Phedre. The company stayed in Dresden until 10 August.
You can read more about Napoleon and the Comédie Française in our article.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Andrew Miles
Historians and web editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N0. 678, 5-11 JULY 2013
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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 the prolongation of its 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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'NAPOLEON ET L'EUROPE' AT THE MUSEE DE L'ARMEE
- Visiting the exhibition? Buy your tickets online.
napoleon.org-related content:
- Painting of the Month, from the exhibition: Napoleon's Consecration or Coronation
- Interview with E. Robbe, Director of the Exhibition
- Object of the Month, from the exhibtion: Painted Target depicting the Preliminaries of the Peace Negotiations concluded at Leoben in Styria, 1797
- Publications from the exhibition: Napoléon et l'Europe Exhibition Catalogue
MAGAZINE
Just Published
- A Bold and Ambitious Enterprise: The British Army in the Low Countries 1813-1814, by Andrew Bamford
- Hunting the Essex: A Journal of the Voyage of HMS Phoebe 1813-1814, by Allen Gardiner
Press Review
- History Today: The Prince of Dandies
- NYT: Mexico Benefitted from the War
- Chicago Reader: Why Napoleon is Dynamite
- Vancouver Sun: Breaking News from the War of 1812
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
- Les Maisons des Bonaparte à Paris 1795-1804: Watercolours by Christian Benilan [Corsica 05/04/2013 - 07/07/2013]
- 1813 - The Decisive Battle. The Liberated City [Spain 21/06/2013 - 30/10/2013]
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
Napoleonica Archives is now online!
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDA T ION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The new library opening hours are:
Monday and Tuesday 1pm – 6pm and
Thursday to Friday 10am – 3pm.
Closed Wednesday.
Online catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
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