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SOLD OUT (well, almost...)
Those who haven't yet made their bookings for the symposium on "Napoleon and the economy" (to be held on 23 and 24 March in the Auditorium of the Banque de France in Paris) may have to fight it out to obtain one of the last few places - 15 as we go to press – which still remain - we recommend arm-wrestling.... This enthusiasm bodes well for what will undoubtedly be a highlight in the Napoleonic year, proving as it does that there are always new historical subjects out there. After “diplomatic history” in 2012 (and the symposium "Diplomats and Diplomacy at the time of Napoleon"), the Fondation Napoléon and its prestigious partners have chosen this time to highlight First Empire economic history, a subject which today cannot be ignored and can no longer be considered the exclusive domain of economists. For those who cannot be present at the party, it will nevertheless be possible to catch up when the conference proceedings are released at the end of this year. Until then, we will be bringing you, both in our Newsletters and on our Facebook pages, different content, articles, books, biographies and portraits of the economic history and its players.
Have an excellent week!
Irène Delage
Head of Documentation and Services to the Public
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH > PORTRAIT OF TREASURY MINISTER FRANÇOIS-NICOLAS MOLLIEN
Our painting of the month is an official portrait of Treasury Minister François-Nicolas Mollien by the prolific First Empire portrait painter Robert Lefèvre. This portrait shows the minister in Imperial court dress in 1806, the year in which he was nominated as minister in the wake of a scandal surrounding the previous occupant of his post. Napoleon wanted the portraits of his ministers to hang at the Tuileries Palace in a room adjacent to that dedicated to his Marshals.
Mollien's memoirs have recently been republished in this critical edition with the support of the Fondation Napoleon: Les mémoires de Mollien, ministre du Trésor public de Napoléon Ier.
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EXHIBITION > VIGÉE LE BRUN: WOMAN ARTIST IN REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE (THE METROPOLITAIN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK FROM 15 FEBRUARY)
The career of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842) spans the entire period of the French Revolution, First French Empire and the Restoration, and her talent as a portrait painter was sought after by such illustrious clients as Marie-Antoinette, the Emperor Napoleon (who commissioned her to paint his sister, Caroline) and the royal families of Europe. After its success last year in Paris at the Grand Palais, this major exhibition now moves to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, before travelling to the National Gallery of Canada in June. Works have been lent by major international public and private collection including the Château de Versailles, the Louvre and the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. As much at ease when working in oils as in pastels, Vigée Le Brun had a particular talent for portraying children as you can see in one of our recent Paintings of the Month, the double portrait of Caroline Murat with her daughter. (Image: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self-portrait, 1790. Oil on canvas, Galleria degli Uffizi, Corridoio Vasariano, Florence).
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EXHIBITION > FRANZ XAVER WINTERHALTER. PAINTER IN HER MAJESTY'S SERVICE (FREIBURG, UNTIL 20 MARCH)
Franz Xaver Winterhalter was a much sought-after portraitist of the Second Empire and a favourite of Empress Eugénie. This show, which brings together important loans including from the Royal Collection in London, from Versailles, Vienna, Warsaw and Berlin, is a co-coproduction between three museums: the Augustinermuseum, Freiburg, Germany, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas (which will host the exhibition 17 April – 14 August 14, 2016) and the Palais de Compiègne near Paris (France).
Why not have a look at some of the paintings of members of the Imperial family by Winterhalter on our website:
Emperor Napoleon III
The Empress Eugénie surrounded by her ladies in waiting
The Empress Eugénie in 18th-century costume
Eugénie: Empress of the French
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LAST DAYS > EXHIBITIONS IN PARIS
> Le secret de l'État. Surveiller, protéger, informer. XVIIe-XXe siècle [until 28 February]
An exhibition at the Archives Nationales in Paris explores the sensitive but fascinating subject of the State Secret (and the logistics which operate to preserve it) a subject never more topical than at the present moment. Both French Napoleonic Empires feature in this survey which spans four centuries. Take a peek via this interactive virtual visit. (external link)
> Visages de l'effroi : violence et fantastique de David à Delacroix [until 28 February]
The Musée de la Vie Romantique's current exposition brings together works by David, Delacroix, Géricault and Ingres, some of which have never been seen before, as part of an exploration of the depiction of violence in nineteenth-century French painting. It shows a progression from the dramatic, controlled violence of archetypal scenes from mythology or antiquity at the end of the eighteenth century towards a French form of fantastical and black Romanticism, inspired as much by the trauma of the Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars as by historical and contemporary literature. A video (external link in French) gives a glimpse of the works exhibited.
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NAPOLEONIC HERITAGE
> Restoration of the maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio
A restoration project costing 30,000 Euros has been completed financed by the French Ministry of Culture to return two rooms of the Maison Bonaparte to their original state. In 1956, it had been given a rapid make-over with plaster for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, who in the end did not set foot in the house. (external link in French)
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 789, 12 - 18 February, 2016
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or towards a specific project, by making a donation?
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napoleon.org - related content:
JUST PUBLISHED
STARCKY Emmanuel, Napoleon i Sztuka 1800 - 1815 (exhibition catalogue "Napoleon and the Legend of the Arts" in Polish, Warsaw, 2015)
SUMMERFIELD Stephen, LAW Susan, Sir John Moore and the universal soldier volume 1: the man, the commander and the Shorncliffe system of training (London, 2015)
WHATS ON (see our website for all events)
Exhibitions
- Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA [15/02/2016 - 15/05/2016] NEW
Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Painter in Her Majesty's service, Augustinermuseum, Freiburg, Germany[28/11/2015 - 20/03/2016] NEW
- Quando Roma parlava Francese: Feste e monumenti della prima Repubblica Romana (1798-1799), Museo Napoleonico di Roma, Italy [11/12/2015 - 13/03/2016]
- Franceschini-Pietri, Napoleon III's secretary Palais Fesch, Ajaccio , Corsica [27/11/2015 - 09/05/2016]
- Delacroix et l'antique (Delacroix and Antiquity), Musée Delacroix, Paris, FR [09/12/2015 - 07/03/2016]
- Ingres, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain [24/11/2015 - 27/03/2016]
- High Spirits: The Comic Art of Thomas Rowlandson The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London UK [13/11/2015 - 14/02/2016] LAST DAYS
- Le secret de l'État. Surveiller, protéger, informer. XVIIe-XXe siècle, Archives Nationales, Paris [04/11/2015 - 28/02/2016] LAST DAYS
- Visages de l'effroi : violence et fantastique de David à Delacroix, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Paris, FR [03/11/2015 - 28/02/2016] LAST DAYS
- Napoléon (1769-1821), sa vie à travers les femmes, Tourist Centre of Wool and Fashion, Verviers, Belgium [10/10/2015 - 28/02/2016] LAST DAYS
Conferences
- Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850: Annual Conference, Hilton Convention Center, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, USA [25/02/2016 - 27/02/2016]
- Napoleon and the economy: Money, banking, crises and trade under the First Empire, Banque de France, Paris [23/03/2016 - 24/03/2016]
Talks
- What does the princess want? Marie Bonaparte between Literature, Biology and Psychoanalysis, Freud Museum, Vienna, Austria [25/02/2016]
- Victualling Nelson's Navy: Food and Cooking on the High Seas in the Age of the Napoleonic Wars, The Naval Club of Toronto, Ontario CA [15/03/2016]
Theatre
- A reading of George Bernard Shaw's Man of Destiny, at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, Broadway, New York [15/02/2016]
- Destiny and the Little Man, a night of music, drinks, and Napoleon, Night Cap Riot, Brooklyn, New York, USA [15/01/2016 - 14/02/2016]
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Don Quixote as Napoleon: propaganda in Spain's war of independence, part I.
- Abel Gance's 1927 masterpiece "Napoleon" finally enters the digital era following a monumental, generation-spanning restoration project
- Learning lessons in the Middle East
- Crowdsourcing History
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.
Online database catalogue
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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:
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