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EDITORIAL
This week we bring you a florilegium of art history, including a mini dossier on the popular (and politically nifty) artist Louis Lafitte. There's also Napoleon's camp bed, surprisingly Spartan for the emperor of the French (even on campaign) and the excellent new guide to all those interested in the antiques of the Napoleonic period, written by the Fondation collections manager, Karine Huguenaud and prefaced by Fondation Napoléon vice-president and director of the Château de Malmaison, Bernard Chevalier. And for the beginning of Lent, read about the Paris carnival as it was celebrated during the First and Second Empires, with its (clearly comic) ‘fat bull procession'…
Peter Hicks
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THIS MONTH'S OBJECT
Napoleon's camp bed, by Desouches
When he was on campaign, Napoleon's bivouac furniture had to be exceedingly practical, easy to set up and put away, easy to carry, and not too bulky. One key element in this ensemble was designed with particular care, namely, the camp bed.
© RMN - D. Arnaudet
This camp bed is currently on show at the Prussen Museum in Wesel
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THE COLLECTOR'S GUIDE
The publishing house Les Edition Napoléon 1er has published a guide designed to help enthusiasts learn about and recognise the treasures of the First Empire. The guide not only serves as an indication of the recent auction prices attained but also gives details concerning the great collections which serve as reference points.
© Editions Napoléon 1er
See our interview with the French Napoleonic collector Pierre-Jean Chalençon
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200 YEARS AGO
Art
The Journal de l'Empire of 1 March, 1807, announced that the gigantic statue of Napoleon recently carved by Canova was to soon to be delivered. However, because of transport difficulties, this marble statue of Napoleon as Mars the peacemaker was not to be delivered from Rome until February 1811 – Canova wished for it to placed in the Louvre amongst the great statues of antiquity. It did not please the Emperor at all - he felt he was too naked – and it was never to be exhibited. After Waterloo, the British government purchased it as a sort of war trophy and gave it to the Duke of Wellington, who had it placed at the foot of the stairs at Apsley House.
Read all about it…
«Yesterday, a first performance of the ballet Ulysse was given at the Opera [by the dancer/choreographer Pitrot]. During the closing ‘ascension' of the ballet, however, the crane broke and the actress Mademoiselle Aubry [as the goddess Minvera] fell twenty feet down onto the stage, breaking her leg, badly bruising her head and giving her other injuries.» (Bulletin du Ministère la police générale dated 28 February, 1807).
The Empress Josephine, who was present at the performance, was deeply marked by the incident and mentioned it to her husband in a letter dated 1 March (not surviving). Napoleon replied to her on 15 March: «I see that you have been greatly upset by the Minerva's downfall at the Opera. I am happy to see that you are going out and amusing yourself. My health is very good. Things are going very well for me.»
150 YEARS AGO
On 23 February, 1857, the traditional Mardi-Gras «Promenade du boeuf gras» (Fat Bull Procession) took place in the streets of Paris.
The Moniteur Universel for the day gives the following account: «Just like last year, every animal in the procession was drawn on a cart pulled by four richly decorated horses. After the fat bull itself came a hornless bull produced from a crossbreed of cattle from the Cotentin region with hornless cattle descended from stock in Britain, fine specimens of which we saw at the universal agricultural competition of 1856».
This tradition of the «Promenade du boeuf gras» derived from a late-antique ceremony. But detailed descriptions of the event which took place in the carnival period before Lent exist only from the 18th century on. The ceremony was banned by the Revolution only to ber e-instated by the Empire in 1805, although the following police ordnance, dated 23 February, 1805, was passed in order to provide a legal framework:
«Butchers are to have powdered wigs with plaits, and they should wear Henri IV hats with a panache in the national colours. They should also wear a waistcoat, trousers and jacket all in striped bazine. Their boots should be ‘à la hussarde‘ and decorated with gold and silver acorns, and they should wear a scarlet overcoat embroidered with gold, with black ‘à la crispin' gloves with white dots; the cortege should comprise six mounted horses, ten mamluks, six savages and six Romans, four Greeks in breastplates and six French chevaliers, four Poles, four Spaniards, two runners, eight Turks, and a drum major from the Guard, six drummers dressed as gladiators, two fife players dressed as Chinamen, eighteen musicians in varied costumes, twelve butchers' boys carrying the tools of their trade. The bull should weight thirteen to fourteen hundred pounds, it must be richly crowned and decorated, and on it should ride a child dressed as a cupid, and alongside should walk two sacrificers bearing axes and clubs».
The tradition was to be once again banned in 1849 by the Republic of 1848, but was to be re-instated two years later, returning to its former glory during the Second Empire. The bulls were brought to Paris in the greatest secrecy and lodged at the Montmartre abattoir. And this was where the gaily caparisoned cortege, comprising butchers' boys, hawkers, soldiers from the Paris garrison and even acrobats, would gather.
The tradition was to end for ever in 1870…
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 404, 23 February - 1 March, 2007
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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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THIS WEEK in the MAGAZINE
PRESS REVIEW
- The Nelson Dispatch, vol. 9, Part 5, January 2007
- First Empire, March/April 2007
WHAT'S ON
Conferences:
- Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850, Washington, USA, 2007
- Napoleon at the Zenith: a bi-centennial seminar, Liverpool, UK
Exhibitions:
- Napoleon, Trikolore und Kaiseradler über Rhein und Weser, Wesel and Minden, Germany
- NAPOLÉON An Intimate Portrait, Oklahoma, USA
- Das Königreich Württemberg 1806–1918. Monarchie und Moderne (The kingdom of Württemberg 1806–1918. Monarchy and modernity), Stuttgart, Germany
- Champignon Bonaparte - illustrations by Gilles Bachelet, Paris, France
- "The trace of the eagle", the Invalides dome, Paris, France
Got a problem with the letter? Try the home page: http://www.napoleon.org
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