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THIS WEEK IN THE BULLETIN
This week we bring you an object on show at the exhibition at the Museo Napoleonico in Rome, Isabey's sumptuous box with miniature. Then in Napoleonic Pages there's Gonnard's excellent work on the fact and fiction surrounding the St Helena episode. In ‘200 years ago', there's Napoleon preparing to leave for Spain and Parisian fear of zealous monks… And at the same time, there's the beginning of the French period in Rome… In ‘150 years ago', there's the author of ‘Sophie's misfortunes', Madame de Ségur, and her French children's classic, ‘Les petites filles modèles'. Finally, in What's on, there's the transfer of the great Courbet exhibition to New York.
Enjoy…
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THIS MONTH'S OBJECT
Portrait of Napoleon (miniature set on a box), by Isabey
As early as the end of the 18th century, Jean-Baptiste Isabey was celebrated as one of the greatest French miniaturists ever. At that time, the miniature genre was at its apogee in terms of popularity, a popularity supported by the Revolutionary wars and later the campaigns of Napoleon, since each soldier wanted to take with him a miniature of his nearest and dearest, and every wife or girlfriend wanted souvenir of their beloved…
© Fondation Napoléon - Patrice Maurin-Berthier
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200 YEARS AGO
Napoleon to leave for Spain?
On 7 March, 1808, Napoleon wrote to General Junot of his impending departure for the north of Spain: «I shall probably be in Burgos on 20 March» (Correspondence n° 13,627). A police bulletin reported public reaction in Paris to the departure: «The peole of Paris do not look upon these preparations for His Majesty's departure with any pleasure. It is not that the Spanish army is feared but the fanaticism of Spanish monks is well known, and the emperor's departure will leave real concern in the capital.» (Bulletin from the Ministry of General Police (Ministère de la police générale) 9 March, 1808)
The emperor was not however to leave for Spain until November 1808, making his entry into Madrid at the beginning of December; he was to remain there until the start of January 1809.
Roman matters
The Italian dioceses began to feel the first effects of the crisis between the Holy See and Napoleon's France. All cardinals living in Rome (but not in their seats) were to be ordered back to their residences (by force, if necessary).On 10 March, 1808, Napoleon gave Eugène Napoléon, viceroy of Italy, the following order: “Expel from Rome the Neapolitan cardinals and the cardinals who are my subjects. Litta should return to Milan; the Genoese should return to Genoa, the Italians to the Kingdom of Italy; the Piedmontese to Piedmont; the Neapolitans to Naples; this measure should be executed whether they are willing or not. Since it is by these cardinals' bad counsel that the Pope has lost his temporal states, they should return home.” (Correspondence n°13637)
Relations between Pius VII and Napoleon had been deteriorating ever since 1804 and Napoleon's refusal to renegotiate parts of the Concordat or to alter laws on divorce. In 1805, the Pope was to complain to Napoleon about the occupation of the port of Ancona (during the war against the Third Coalition) threatening to break off diplomatic relations. The victory at Austerlitz and the Treaty of Presbourg led to great tension, with Napoleon demanding (and Pius refusing) to close all Vatican controlled ports to France's enemies. Napoleon had famously remarked to the pontiff, «Your Holiness is sovereign of Rome, but I am its emperor. All my enemies must be your enemies as well.» Given Pius' intransigence, Napoleon then ordered his troops to occupy the Marches and the Romagna (the Pope's temporal states in Italy). This bringing Napoleon no satisfaction, the order was given to French troops on 10 January, 1808, to march on Rome. They entered the city on 2 February, 1808.
150 YEARS AGO
French literature: Les Petites filles modèles (The perfect little girls)
At the beginning of March 1858 was published the classic of French children's literature, Les Petites Filles modèles (The perfect little girls) by the Comtesse de Ségur, née Sophie Rostopchine (daughter of the Rostopchin who set fire to Moscow in 1812). The work, illustrated with 20 vignettes by Bertall, was the first in a series of three, known as the Fleurville trilogy; the second and third parts being called Les Vacances (The holidays) (1859) and Les Malheurs de Sophie (Sophie's misfortunes) (1860). The principal characters (Sophie, and the sisters Camille and Madeleline de Fleurville) were modelled respectively on the authoress herself and her grandchildren Camille et Madeleine de Malaret, and the story is highly moralistic. In the preface, the Comtesse writes: «My Petites Filles modèles were not invented; they really exist: they are portraits; the proof is in their very imperfections. They have faults, light shadows, which bring out the charm of the portrait and attest to the existence of the model.» Her books were published in the Bibliothèque Rose series, for which the French publishers, Hachette, is celebrating the 150th anniversary this year.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 448, 7 - 13 March, 2008
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REMINDER
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THIS WEEK in the MAGAZINE
What's on
Lecture:
- The St-Helena Napoleon never knew, Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
Exhibitions:
- Gustave Courbet, Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
- König Lustik!? Jérôme Bonaparte and the Model State: the Kingdom of Westphalia, Kassel, Germany
- The Eye of Josephine, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Goya: the Disasters of War, Berkley Art Museum, University of California, USA
- Marquis de Lafayette, The New York Historical Society, NY, USA
- Chronicles of Riches: Treasures from the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada
- La Rose Impériale: The Development of Modern Roses, Boone Gallery, The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, USA
- "The trace of the eagle", the Invalides dome, Paris, France
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