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THIS WEEK IN THE LETTER
This week we bring you an article about Napoleon's Consular court, a mini-dossier on the First empire iconographer Robert Lefevre (a painter close to our hearts here at the Fondation Napoléon since a massive painting by him hands in the President's office), a special offer on the archival CD ROM of Peyrusse's memoirs and the usual snapshot of life 200 and 150 years ago...
Enjoy.
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THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE
Napoleon and his court, by Peter Hicks
The coup d'état of 18 Brumaire was a watershed. ‘The Revolution is ended' trumpeted proudly the proclamation accompanying the great Constitution of An VIII, which was to form the bedrock of the new regime right up to 1814. Whilst much ink has been spilt on the question as to whether the Revolution did in fact come to an end, it is clear that the regime founded after the coup d'état aimed to provide stability and above all national reconciliation, an attempt to bring both Royalists and Jacobins back into the political and national fold around a strong unified leadership that embodied government. As we know with hindsight, this bold military-backed move was a huge success and produced what Thierry Lentz has baptised the “Grand Consulat”, to match the “Grand Empire”.(1) However, with the change in polity Napoleon found the society around him unprepared for the appearance of strong single figure in power. He found himself at the top alone, without infrastructure other than military and to a certain extent cut off from the notables in society. So he looked to the past to create for himself a court and an etiquette befitting the leader of France's new consular era.
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MINI-DOSSIER : ROBERT LEFEVRE(1755-1830), PORTRAIT PAINTER
Robert Lefèvre, portrait painter to the rich and famous, owed his remarkable success to his remarkable talent. And his genius brought him connections in high places (Denon was his champion) not to mention the emperor's favour. Continuing his remarkable career right until the July Revolution of 1830, he defined the look of the First Empire.
- Detailed biography
Some of his works:
- General Bonaparte and his chief of staff, general Berthier, at the Battle of Marengo (detail here © Fondation Napoléon - Patrice Maurin-Berthier)
- Charles-Pierre-François Augereau, duc de Castiglione,Maréchal de France (1757-1816)
- Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon (1755-1830)
- Marie-Letizia Bonaparte, née Ramolino, Madame Mère (1750-1836)
- Napoleon Ist, Emperor of the French (1769-1821)
- Savary, duc de Rovigo (1774-1833)
- The marquis de Fontanes dressed as Grand-Maître of the University
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THE ARCHIVES OF BARON PEYRUSSE - SPECIAL OFFER
Peyrusse was General Treasurer of the Crown but is perhaps best known for his memoirs of Napoleon's stay on the island of Elba. His memoirs which were first published in 1869 have now been re-issued in CD ROM form by éditions Chastellux.
Readers of the Bulletin are here given a special 20% off price if they order their copy by post from Editions Chastellux (76 avenue des Champs Elysées 75008 Paris) and include in their letter a printed version of this week's bulletin.
© Editions Chastellux
Further details here
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200 YEARS AGO
The Polish Campaign
On 16 April, 1807, Mortier beat Swedish forces under Essen at Anklam, leading to the Armistice of Schlachtow, on 18 April.
The attack was ordered because Swedish troops had crossed the strategically important river Peene. Napoleon wrote to Maréchal Brune «Since the Swedes have crossed the Peene, you should concentrate all your forces to harass their right flank. From the 12th to the 15th, Maréchal Mortier will attack them with a considerable number of men.». To Maréchal Mortier he wrote: «I have spoken to your ADC and given him verbally all the dispositions which I have ordered and which shall be brought to you by the Major General. I hope that on the 12th or the 15th, you will be able to push the Swedes back. Your first aim should be to cover Stettin; your second, to cover Berlin. In order to do this, it is indispensable that you drive the Swedes back the other side of the Peene.» (Correspondance n° 12327 and 12328, Finkenstein, 7 April, 1807)
After the Armistice of Schlachtow, the Swedes retained their part of Pomerania dn Stralsund. Mortier's corps was thus free to rejoin the rest of the Grande Armée preparing to face the Russians.
Architecture
On 19 April, 1807, Napoleon made his comments on the report by the Interior Minister regarding the competition for a project to «build a temple to the glory of the French armies on the site of the Madeleine».
«His Majesty has read with interest the report which the Interior Minister sent him on the 2nd of this month regarding the competition for the Madeleine published on 2 december last year. The Emperor does not have enough information to be able to decide on one of the four projects which the Institut has selected. He is perfectly willing for refer to the minister and the class for fine arts on questions of taste and fine proportion. But he must have his say on the internal arrangements, since he better than anyone else knows what the monument will be used for »
(Correspondance n°12414, Finkenstein, 19 April, 1807)
See here are file on the Madeleine
Daily life
«With the return of the fine weather, ‘tout Paris' is now out and enjoying the city. Gentlemen take the air on the boulevards in the Marais; authors are poking their noses into books on the quais; mothers are taking their babies past the Panorama [the Passage des Panoramas between the Boulevard Montmarte and the Rue Saint-Marc] and on the Boulevard Montmartre; followers of fashion who want to show off their flashy carriages and new outfits go to the Bois de Boulogne; and women of lesser means, happy simply to parade their natural charms, go to the Champs-Elysées, and there, the object of attention of the young men on horseback and pedestrians, they take pleasure in mocking the ‘belles' who go to the ‘Bois'.»
(Journal de Paris, 17 April, 1807)
150 YEARS AGO
The 18th of April, 1857, saw the opening of the first section of the railway from Paris to Mulhouse, linking Paris to Chaumont.
In April 1857, new animals were delivered to the Paris Natural History Museum: a ‘mangabey à calotte rousse' (small African monkey), a ‘sanglier Koeropotame du Gabon' (Western Bush Pig from Gabon) and a male chimpanzee. All three had been brought back by Capitaine Bouet, commander of the naval station in Gabon.
At the same period, the Zoological gardens in Marseilles received several rare species, notably a leopard, a pair of Caronculei cranes and a Ezeroum ram.
(Moniteur Universel, 18 and 19 April, 1857)
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, Week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 411, 13 - 19 April, 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
WHAT'S ON
Auctions:
Baldwin's Auctions Number 51 - Commemorative Medals, Military Medals and Numismatic Books, London, UK
Theatre:
Waterloo... la fin d'un monde, Waterloo, Belgium
Re-enactments:
- Re-enactment of the Battle of Nieuwleusen, Netherlands
- Re-enactment of the Battle of Rivoli, 1797-2007, Rivoli, Italy
Fairs:
The 14th International Napoleonic Fair, Cressing Temple, UK
Conferences:
- Napoleon at the Zenith: a bi-centennial seminar, Liverpool, UK
Exhibitions:
- Napoleon's Description de L'Egypte, Dallas, Texas, USA
- 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
- "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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