| |
| |
 |
 |
RESTORATION OF THE EMPEROR CAVALRY CHASSEUR COLONEL'S UNIFORM
If you haven't seen it yet, hurry along to the Musée de l'Armée in Paris to see the exhibition "Napoleon on St Helena". It was made possible by the generosity of donors to the “Save Napoleon's House on St Helena” appeal. The Generals' Wing and the furniture from Longwood House were all brought back to life thanks to your gifts!
As you may have guessed, we're off again down the appeal trail, but this time we're only mobilising the French contingent and keeping the Foreign Regiments in reserve! The aim is to raise enough for the complete restoration of the Cavalry Chasseur Colonel's uniform worn by Napoleon on St Helena. The uniform was brought back from the island to France by the Mamluk Ali (Napoleon's valet) and bequeathed by him to his home town Sens. In the town museum, the uniform lives alongside the ‘little hat' that Napoleon wore at Waterloo (the restoration of which is being overseen by the Fondation Napoléon).
The uniform is currently on show at the Les Invalides as part of the exhibition "Napoleon on St Helena" until 24 July and will go to be restored straight afterwards.
It occurred to us that this would provide an opportunity for Napoleon fans in France to engage in a communal action (which also brings with it fiscal incentives). Since the sum involved is much smaller than that for the Longwood restorations, we are concentrating the appeal to those who pay tax in France, but this does not mean that we would reject offers from elsewhere. Far from it… Those outside France wishing to donate should contact me directly via the email below.
For French residents, information on how to donate can be found here (in French). And, just as for the Longwood appeal, full details of donations (validated by our accountant) will appear as they come in.
Thank you in advance for your interest and support in preserving Napoleonic heritage.
Thierry Lentz
lentz@napoleon.org
Director of the Fondation Napoléon
|
|
|
| |
FOCUS ON NAPOLEON'S UNIFORM ON ST HELENA
In which paintings can Napoleon be seen wearing this uniform?
Jacques-Louis David painted Napoleon in the study at the Tuileries wearing an infantry grenadier's uniform in 1812. The artist then made a copy of the portrait, this time showing Napoleon wearing the Cavalry Chasseur Colonel's uniform, the uniform that he took to St Helena. The first version is now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington; the second version, which once belonged to Prince Napoleon, now belongs to the Château de Versailles (France) subject to usufruct. Find out more about these two paintings.
A portrait by Charles Eastlake shows Napoleon wearing this uniform on board Bellerophon in Plymouth Sound in 1815 shortly before leaving for St Helena on Northumberland.
In another painting (of which the above illustration is a detail) by François Joseph Sandmann, dating from around 1820, we can see the Emperor from behind, again wearing the same uniform, looking out from St Helena towards the ocean. This is now in the collection of the Musée de Malmaison.
> IS THE UNIFORM GREEN OR BLUE?
The Cavalry Chasseur Colonel's uniform worn by Napoleon on St Helena was originally green. Today, visitors to the exhibition Napoleon on St Helena at the Musée de l'Armée will see that it appears blue. In textiles of the eighteenth and early-nineteenth century, the colour green was obtained by first passing the wool through a vat of blue dye followed by a yellow one and finally stabilizing both the colours with a mordant of alum (potassium alum). Previously, arsenic was sometimes used as a mordant; a poorly washed wool therefore could poison people! As the dyes had not been mixed but superimposed, the yellow dye has therefore oxidized first leaving only the blue colour. The green hue can nevertheless still be seen on the less visible parts of the uniform (under the arms and on the back of certain seams).
|
|
|
| |
OBJECT OF THE MONTH > NAPOLEON'S ATHÉNIENNE
This luxury washstand made by the goldsmith Martin-Guillaume Biennais is undoubtedly one of the finest and most beautiful objects that Napoleon took to St Helena. We know that it had been in almost constant use by Napoleon since it was made circa 1802-04 and still featured in inventories of the Tulieries and the Elysée Palaces as part of the Imperial bedroom furniture dating from 1809 and later. Obsessed as he was with cleanliness, Napoleon must have used this “Athénienne” (as such neoclassical washstands were called) on a daily basis, and in the simplicity of exile it must been opulently out of place amongst the humbler furniture of island origin.
To appreciate the stark contrast between the vestiges of imperial luxury and the dreary banality of exile [see also last week's editorial by Irène Delage], don't miss the chance to see this object as part of the exhibition "Napoleon on St Helena" at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris until 24 July.
NEW EXHIBTIONS IN FRANCE
If you're planning a visit to Paris for the "Napoleon on St Helena" exhibition, here are a few other First- and Second-Empires exhibitions which might interest you. Some of them are outside Paris and thus provide a wonderful excuse to discover the lesser-known historic sites in the Paris region, such as the Château de Chantilly or the Palais de Compiègne.
|
|
|
| |
> A REVOLUTIONARY MUSEUM: ALEXANDRE LENOIR'S MUSEUM OF FRENCH MONUMENTS
In 1795, Alexandre Lenoir opened the Musée des Monuments Français (Museum of French Monuments) to the public in the Petits Augustins Convent in Paris (now the prestigious École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, the National School of Fine Arts). It was France's second national museum, coming in the wake of the Louvre, founded in 1793. It was closed in 1816 after the Bourbon Restoration and the collections were dispersed among other institutions in France (including the Louvre and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts) or abroad (including the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London). This exhibition recounts the pioneering achievement of Alexandre Lenoir as museum curator, exhibition designer, and fervent heritage protector. It also explores the establishment and history of the Museum of French Monuments, whose exhibition style had a powerful influence on the sensibility and the arts of the period.
|
|
|
| |
> ROSA BONHEUR AND HER FAMILY: THREE GENERATIONS OF ARTISTS
The museum of Port-Royal des Champs is celebrating three generations of artists, painters and sculptors born in the nineteenth century into the Bonheur family. Rosa Bonheur, the most famous member of the family, had an important career during the Second Empire and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur by Empress Eugenie. (Until 25 July).
> PIERRE-PAUL PRUD'HON (external link in English)
The Galerie de Psyche at the Chateau de Chantilly (outside Paris) is showing twenty-six drawings and four paintings by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon many of which were created by the artist during the Consulate and the Empire. This is the first time these works have been seen since 1997. A catalogue of these works is published by Faton to mark the occasion. (Until 26 June).
> L'EPOPEE FANTASTIQUE, 1820-1920, CYCLES ET MOTOS (external link in French)
This exhibition at the Château de Compiègne (link in English) explores the invention and enthusiasm for two-wheeled transport in the nineteenth century. (Until 25 June).
Why not have another look at our article on the Velocipede of Napoleon III's son, the Prince Impérial?
|
|
|
| |
EVENTS > FESTIVAL OF THE 220TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NAPOLEONIC ARMISTICE IN CHERASCO, ITALY
To commemorate the Napoleonic armistice which was signed in Cherasco on the 28 April 1796 various events are taking place between the end of April and 5 June:
- on 30 April, a conference: "Napoleon: what remains of the myth";
- from 30 April – 12 June, an exhibition “Napoleone: quattro notti a Cherasco” (“Napoleon: Four Nights in Cherasco) at the Palazzo Salmatoris with furniture, paintings, memorabilia of the Napoleonic era;
- and on 4 and 5 June, costumed parades and troop manoeuvres, rides and concerts in the streets of the old town. Full details here (external link in Italian). [image: "General Bonaparte during the First Italian Campaign" by Edouard Détaille].
TELEVISION > St Helena features this week in a BBC TV program called “Outposts of Empire”, (on BBC4 this Tuesday at 9pm and available online afterwards to UK viewers at this link).
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 799, 22 - 28 April 2016
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or towards a specific project, by making a donation?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EVENT > NAPOLÉON À SAINTE-HÉLÈNE. LA CONQUÊTE DE LA MÉMOIRE (Napoleon on St Helena, His fight for his Story), exhibition at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris (France) until 24/07/2016
> Short presentation of the exhibition in English on napoleon.org
> Detailed presentation of the exhibition in French on the website of the Musée de l'Armée
Follow us on our new English-language Facebook page and on Twitter!
napoleon.org - related content:
WHATS ON (see our website for all events)
Exhibitions
- A Revolutionary Museum: Alexandre Lenoir's Museum of French Monuments
The Louvre, Paris, FR [7/4/2016-4/7/2016] NEW
- Rosa Bonheur and her family: Three Generations of Artists, Port-Royal des Champs, Paris region, FR [07/04/2016 - 25/07/2016] NEW
- Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, Château de Chantilly, FR [23/3/206-26/6/2016] NEW
- L'épopée fantastique, 1820-1920, cycles et motos, Château de Compiègne, FR [8/4/2016 – 25/7/2016] NEW
- High Society: The Portraits of Franz X. Winterhalter, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA [17/04/2016-14/08/2016]
- Fashion forward: three centuries of fashion, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, FR [07/04/2016- 14/08/2016]
- Napoléon vu par Abel Gance. La séquence corse, Maison Bonaparte, Ajaccio, Corsica [31/03/2016 - 03/07/2016]
- Carrosses à Marmottan, Bibliothèque Marmotton, Paris, FR [23/03/2016 - 30/07/2016]
- Hubert Robert (1733–1808) A Visionary Painter, Musée du Louvre, Paris, FR [09/03/2016 - 30/05/2016]
- Easy Virtue. Prostitution in French Art, 1850-1910, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, NL [19/02/2016 - 19/06/2016]
- The art of the superfluous, Paris, the decorative arts and fashion, Archives de Paris, FR [08/02/2016 - 03/06/2016]
- Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA [15/02/2016 - 15/05/2016]
- Franceschini-Pietri, Napoleon III's secretary Palais Fesch, Ajaccio , Corsica [27/11/2015 - 09/05/2016]
Talk
'Sir Joseph Banks in Iceland and the North Atlantic' (Napoleonic Wars) by Anna Agnarsdóttir, Wren Library at Lincoln Cathedral UK [28/04/2016]
Concerts
- Cycle "Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène. A la conquête de la mémoire", Les Invalides, Paris, FR [07/04/2016 - 20/06/2016]
- Ei fu. Concerto per il 5 maggio, Museo Napoleonico, Roma, Italy [5/05/2016]
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Bed, bath and beyond: Napoleon's dying days brought back to life
- Historic Scots firm that made cannons used at Battle of Waterloo sheds 211 jobs as plant closes
- HMP Perth: Built in 1812 to hold French prisoners captured during the Napoleonic Wars, in 1842, Scotland's oldest prison still in use.
- Napoleon Dethroned and Exiled
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
French holiday opening times (until end April):
Mondays and Tuesdays 1pm – 5pm, and Thursdays 10am-3pm.
The library is normally open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 1pm to 6pm and on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 3pm. It is closed on Wednesdays.
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
ACCOUNT DETAILS
To change your email address, unsubscribe, and sign up for the French information bulletin.
Problems with a link in this letter?
- Check the homepage
- View back numbers of the bulletin
- Contact us
|
|
