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EDITORIAL > EXHIBITIONS ON NAPOLEON DRAWING THE CROWDS
This year has seen some great shows and the public have voted with their feet. “Napoléon, Wellington: Shared Destinies”, Waterloo (Belgium), drew 14,000 visitors (their average up to then was 5,000) and during the battle bicentenary they even hit 1,700 per day, which was tight in that relatively small museum). “Napoléon et Paris” at the Musée Carnavalet in Paris saw 63,000 people pass its doors (if you missed it why not check out our photo album on Facebook?). And provincial Compiègne, with its marvellous “Napoléon ou la légende des arts” topped out at 20,000. We hope that the very fine exhibition, “Le bivouac de Napoléon, luxe et ingéniosité”, organised by the French Mobilier National, held at the Gobelins Museum (Paris) and opening today, does as well! The show includes the Emperor's campaign tent (it's worth going just for that), not to mention sixty or so pieces from the Mobilier national collection and other lenders– including ourselves. The detail which ‘spoke to me' most concerned Napoleon's folding camp bed, and the fact that the technology designed for it (based on umbrellas of the time) was used in all subsequent folding beds, and most notably ‘Portacots'. So, it was thanks to Napoleon, my children got a good night's sleep in other people's houses. And the Murat exhibition in Naples (Italy), “A passo di carica”, continues to draw admirers.
The bicentenaries may well be coming to an end, but Napoleon remains the crowd pleaser he always was.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Manager of International Affairs at Fondation Napoléon
FONDATION NAPOLEON STUDY GRANTS > DEADLINE 30TH SEPTEMBER
There's still time to apply for a study grant for research into the First or Second Empire (see conditions). It is possible to receive a grant for a PhD to be written in English. However, such applicants must agree to spend half of the grant award either on research work in France or on French language instruction. Applications should reach the Fondation by 30 September.
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ARTICLE OF THE MONTH > A LETTER FROM PARIS BY JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE, JULY 1815
The Englishman, John Cam Hobhouse, later to become a politician, and the 1st Baron Broughton (1786 – 1869), was fascinated with Napoleon, whom he considered to be the true Emperor of the French. He travelled to Paris in April 1815 where he was to write a series of letters describing the incredible events which unfolded, which would be published the following year. This letter recounts the events and reactions in Paris following Napoleon's abdication in June and Louis XVIII's return in July 1815 …
Our French article of the month is QUAND NAPOLÉON III BÂTISSAIT LE GRAND LOUVRE by Georges Poisson.
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EXPOSITION > ÉLISABETH LOUISE VIGEE-LEBRUN (1755-1842) GRAND PALAIS, PARIS
A new exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris (France) traces the life and work of Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (1755-1842), portraitist at the great courts of Europe, including of Marie-Antoinette and Caroline Murat. Her tumultuous life interwove with the history of the Ancien Régime, the First Empire and the Restoration. The exhibition opens on 23 September at the Grand Palais, in Paris. (image: Yolande-Gabrielle-Martine de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac painted by Louise-Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Château de Versailles © RMN-Grand Palais)
Have a look at this contemporary copy of a Self portrait of Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun, 1790, a miniature on ivory which belongs to the Fondation Napoléon. Vigée-Lebrun painted several portraits of Napoleon's sister, Caroline, including this one of Caroline Murat with her daughter Letizia, 1807.
Find out in this extract of the artist's memoirs what she said about the circumstances of her first portrait of Caroline Murat (which was commissioned by Napoléon).
And to explore the artist further here is a multi-lingual website (external link in English, French, German) dedicated to Vigée-Lebrun with articles, apps and photo galleries.
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ONLINE >
NEW BIBLIOGRAPHY > LE CONGRES DE VIENNE
A new digital Bibliography selected by the Fondation Napoléon presents documents relating to the Congress of Vienna. This online reference includes official documents, correspondences, memoirs, historical maps and engravings. (image: gallica.bnf.fr)
E-BOOK > CHARLES CORNWALLIS CHESNEY: THE WATERLOO LECTURES (1826-1876): A STUDY OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1815
Chesney's lectures (published in 1874) illustrated both the strategy and tactics which culminated in the final catastrophe. The mistakes committed by Napoleon I of France are laid bare, and for the first time an English writer points out that the dispositions of the Duke of Wellington were far from faultless. And in the Waterloo Lectures the Prussians are for the first time credited by an English pen with their proper share in the victory. The work attracted much attention abroad as well as at home, and French and German translations were published.
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ARCHEOLOGY > MASS GRAVE DISCOVERED IN FRANKFURT, GERMANY
Construction work in Frankfurt (Germany) has unearthed the skeletons of 200 French soldiers from the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. The soldiers are believed to be from Napoleon's Grande Armée retreating from Russia in 1813. Battles fought near Frankfurt in that year were responsible for 15,000 deaths. Andrea Hampel, heritage and historic monuments director for Frankfurt, said it appeared that the mass graves were dug "in an emergency".
See also a recent study in which bone analysis of skeletons found in a mass grave in Vilnius, Lithuania, (excavated in 2001, containing 3,269 bodies) reveals signs of starvation during Napoleon's retreat from Russia.
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 770, 18 - 24 SEPTEMBER, 2015
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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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WATERLOO BICENTENARY 1815-2015
What's on this year relating to the Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo: commemorations, books, exhibitions, news ...
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napoleon.org - related content:
WHAT'S ON (see our website for all events)
Conferences
- 'Die Schlacht von Waterloo 1815 und die deutschen Truppen' Bomann-Museum, Celle, Germany [19/09/2015]
- Waterloo, 1815: The British Monarchy and the Defeat of Napoleon Windsor, UK [14/11/2015]
Exhibitions
- Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (1755-1842) Grand Palais, Paris, France [23/09/2015 - 11/01/2016] NEW
- Le Bivouac de Napoléon : luxe et ingéniosité en campagne Galerie des Gobelins, Paris [18/09/2015 - 13/12/2015] NEW
- Daniel Maclise: The Waterloo Cartoon Royal Academy of Arts (UK) [02/09/2015 - 03/01/2016]
- Murat, King of Naples, at the charge! Palazzo Reale, Naples, Italy [19/05/2015 - 19/10/2015]
- Dancing into Battle: The Duchess of Richmond's Ball, Goodwood House, Sussex (UK) [03/08/2015 - 11/10/2015]
- Remembering Napoleon Bonaparte, University of Delaware Library, Newark, USA [03/08/2015 - 02/10/2015]
- Fallen Emperor: Napoleon in Plymouth Sound in 1815, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, UK [23/05/2015 - 26/09/2015] LAST DAYS
- Pierre-Paul Prud'hon: Napoleon's Draughtsman Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, UK [23/06/2015 - 15/11/2015]
- 'Waterloo and the March of Science', Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Bath, UK [18/06/2015 - 13/12/2015]
- '"Victory Sir, Victory!" Henry Percy and the Battle of Waterloo, 1815', Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, UK [18/05/2015 - 30/10/2015]
- 'The Road to Waterloo' and ‘Waterloo Lives' Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland [03/02/2015 - 28/11/2015]
- 'Waterloo' at the Bomann-Museum, Celle, Germany [02/04/2015 - 11/10/2015]
- 'Napoleon und Bayern' Bayerisches Armeemuseum, Ingolstadt, Germany [30/04/2015 - 30/10/2015]
- 'Waterloo 1815 - The Battle for Peace' at Wellington Arch and new display at Apsley House London UK [18/04/2015 - 30/12/2015]
'Alexander, Napoleon and Josephine: a story of war, art and friendship' Hermitage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [28/03/2015 - 08/11/2015]
- Waterloo, Wellington and Westminster Royal Gallery, Houses of Parliament, London, UK [18/06/2015 - 24/09/2015] LAST DAYS
Festival
- Jane Austin Festival, Bath UK [11-20/09/2015]
- Re-enactments
Napoleonic Association Weekend, Fort Amherst, Kent UK [19-20/09/2015]
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Napoleon I features in Aleksandr Sokurov's new film about the Louvre Museum: ‘Francofonia'
- Wellington won Battle of Waterloo 200 years ago – but Irish rejected his legacy
- Fans Build LEGO Battle Of Waterloo With 2134 Minifigs
- Radio program: Napoleon in Torbay (first 15 minutes)
- Irene Collins dies: Writer of revealing books about Napoleon and Austen who became the first female Dean of Liverpool University
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The library is normally open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 1pm to 6pm and on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 3pm. The library is closed on Wednesdays, and will close exceptionally from midday on Friday 25th September.
Online database catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
NAPOLEONICA LES ARCHIVES
Site of digitised Napoleonic archival material:
The working papers or 'imprimés' of the Napoleonic Conseil d'Etat, the correspondence of Vivant Denon, etc.
http://www.napoleonica.org
Contact: napoleonica@napoleon.org
NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
International peer-review interdisciplinary e-review on the history of the two Empires, bilingual French-English, 3 issues per year, free access.
Read the review on Cairn.info
Contact: napoleonicalarevue@napoleon.org
The Fondation Napoléon's Institutional website:
www.fondationnapoleon.org
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