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EDITORIAL: KICK-OFF
Dear Friends,
For the Fondation Napoléon, Tuesday 28, September, will mark the kick-off for the 2004 bicentenaries, with the opening to the public of the exhibition, The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon, at the Musée Jacquemart-André.
Three years and the complete restoration of about a hundred items were required before this exhibition could take place. In it, two hundred of the very finest pieces are set in a modern, innovative yet fitting scenography designed by Michel Albertini, the designer, last year, of the scenography for the great "Napoléon" exhibition in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In addition to the extraordinary works owned by the Fondation Napoléon (the major preparatory sketch for David's Sacre painting, travel nécessaires by Biennais, arms, sumptuous dinner services, memorabilia of the Emperor, etc.), we also present, thanks to a last minute loan from an "Empire" family, the dress and train worn by the wife of the Conseiller d'Etat, Bérenger, at the coronation ceremony. A first within another first, as it were, given that this is the first ever exhibition of the Fondation's collection.
Whilst this long, complex and occasionally painstaking operation was made possible by the almost daily participation of the administrators and team at the Fondation, Karine Huguenaud, our art historian, must be singled out for special praise. Her slender shoulders have borne this often weighty burden with equanimity and skill. She says that she also enjoyed the work, from time to time, given that the pieces which she has had in her hands and with which she has worked are so remarkable.
Another special mention must go to Bernard Chevallier, vice-president of the Fondation, but also director of Malmaison who accepted the additional responsibility of the role of Fondation commissioner for the exhibition, the curator at the Jacquemart-André museum being commissioner on their side.
Having said all this - and given that there is already a description of the exhibition on the site - there is nothing more for me to add, except: see you at the Jacquemart-André Museum!
Excellent Napoleonic week to you.
Thierry Lentz
THIS MONTH'S OBJECT
The Eagle for the standard of the 6e Regiment of Chasseurs à cheval
Taking the eagles of the roman armies as his inspiration, Napoleon placed a gilt bronze eagle at the top of his regiments' flag standards. These eagles were awarded at a grand ceremony on the Champ-de-Mars, 5 December, 1804, three days after the coronation.
LATER THAN PLANNED!
Since the people at Editions Fayard are dedicated to producing books that last, they have asked us to announce that the first volume of the Correspondance générale de Napoléon will be in your bookshops on 20 October and not 13, as we previously announced. Better to have well-made books which come out late than 'perfectly bound' paperbacks which fall apart at a third reading. As the Bonapartist plotters during the Restoration used to say: "Be patient".
FONDATION NAPOLEON 2004 RESEARCH GRANTS
Only two weeks left to apply for a research grants: every year the Fondation Napoléon supports young researchers in the history of the First and Second Empires, awarding 6 research grants of 7,600 € each.
For further details.
200 YEARS AGO
On 5 Vendémiaire, An XIII (27 September, 1804), Roger-Jean Schimmelpenninck (1761-1825) was commissioned by the Batavian Republic to go to Paris to negociate a new constitution for the republic.
For a précis of Schimmelpenninck's career, visit our Biographies page.
150 YEARS AGO
After their victory at Alma, the allied troops approached Sebastopol. They bivouacked there from 21 to 25 September, 1854, along the Belbek river just as cholera began to sweep through the ranks. Maréchal Saint-Arnaud, premier Commander in Chief of the French oriental troops, was to be one of the first infected. On 26 September he handed command over to the officer who had assisted him from the start, general Canrobert, and headed for Balaklava, the port which served as a base for the British troops. Reaching Balaklava on 28, he died the following day abord the Berthollet, the vessel which was to bring him back to France. Saint-Arnaud was not only a bonapartist but one of the great generals of the Armée d'Afrique and who had participated in the campaigns in Algeria and Morocco.
On 29 September, the Franco-British troops established themselves south of the Sebastopol plateau and set about besieging the city. "A thin layer of vegetation was punctured here and there by rocks, making it clear how difficult it would be to dig trenches, to build fortifications and to place the artillery. There were only a few trees, and most of those were bent over by the wind from the sea, of little use for the tasks in hand or for camp firewood. There were only a few springs dotted here and there, but no running water. The general impression was one of harshness, or to be more precise, inhumanity." A. Gouttman: La guerre de Crimée, Editions SPM, 1995, p. 312.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation.
© 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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THIS WEEK:
Snippets
- Coronation mass by Méhul rediscovered
Press review
The Nelson Dispatch, vol. 8, part 7, July 2004
What's on
- Exhibition: The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon, Paris
- Conference: International Conference: Visions of Napoleon's European politique
- Study Day: Napoleon and Rome
- Theatre: The Emperor's last battle
- Exhibition: Images of the coronation of the Emperor Napoleon
- Conference: Napoleonic Association, UK
- Exhibition: Was für ein Theater, Krönungen & Spektakel in napoleonischer Zeit
(What a show! Coronations and pomp in the Napoleonic period), Château d'Arenenberg, Switzerland
- Exhibition: Giovanni Spadolini's passion for Napoleon: a tale of history, politics and culture, Elba, Italy
- Exhibition: Napoleon. The Sacre, at the Musée Fesch, Ajaccio
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Fighting Napoleon: Guerillas, Bandits and Adventurers in Spain 1808-1814, by Charles J. Esdaile
- This month's painting: General Bonaparte and his chief of staff, general Berthier, at the Battle of Marengo, by Robert Lefevre, Carle Vernet and Joseph Boze
- This month's article: Autograph Bonaparte letters at the Universities of Princeton (USA) and Vilnius (Lithuania). A tale of Napoleonic forgeries?, by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, the eagle for the standard of the 6e Regiment of Chasseurs à cheval
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