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THIS WEEK IN THE BULLETIN
We bring you Rafe Blaufarb's excellent Napoleon reader as our Book of the Month, followed closely by details concerning three of Goya ‘Napoleonic' paintings and the fabulous Spanish exhibition on Goya and Napoleon at the Prado in Madrid. Next, we take you to the island of Elba and the fascinating exhibition of Napoleonic propaganda in the two Napoleonic residences there. Then we bring you news of our new bi-lingual online journal, Napoleonica La Revue, and apologies for technical difficulties regarding napoleon.org Mark III. In ‘200 years ago' there's the death of Cabanis and the ‘appointment' of Joseph as King of Spain. In the Magazine, you can read the contents of the latest number of First Empire, you can visit two websites (one of photos of the re-enactment in Bourtange and the other of Napoleonic figurines), and you can read about two new encyclopaedic illustrated books about British and Napoleonic artillery. In ‘What's on', there a few new events, notably, two re-enactments in Spain, an academic bicentennial conference in Alicante, a talk in Macerata (Italy), an exhibition of Napoleonic coinage in Barcelona and a clutch of other exhibitions.
Enjoy.
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THIS MONTH' BOOK
Napoleon: A Symbol for an Age: A Brief History with Documents, by Rafe Blaufarb
This excellent book is for all those interested in Napoleon. It opens with a brief biographical sketch of Napoleon and his times. Then comes the second (and principal) part of the volume. This is a selection of writings contemporary with Napoleon himself thematically arranged to provoke the reader to reflect on the big issues surrounding the Napoleon episode: Napoleon the political general, 18 Brumaire, order, religion, the founding of the Napoleonic regime, the Napoleonic elite, art propaganda, the imperial court, the imperial nobility, experience of war (both military and civilian), Napoleon and Europe, Napoleon and the 'Atlantic World', then Spain, Russia, Germany, the Hundred Days, the Restoration, Bonapartism and the Retour des cendres. There are also some essay questions for consideration (p. 218), for those who want to put pen to paper. The whole is topped off with an up-to-date bibliography. The excerpts are exceedingly well chosen, underlining the complexity of the history in our period. How I wish that some recent authors of general public works on Napoleon had had this important book to hand!
P.H. May 2008
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COMMEMORATION OF THE DOS MAYOS AND GOYA ON SHOW IN 2008
The bicentenaries of the Dos and Tres Mayos have been marked in Spain officially and artistically. Last Friday, the King Juan Carlos and the royal family and the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Zapatero, took part in an official ceremony of remembrance at Mostoles, the place near Madrid which is said to have provided immediate support to the uprising on 2 May, 1808. Artistically, the Prado Museum is commemorating not only the beginning of the uprising but also the repairs made to Goya's enormous propaganda paintings in homage to the resistance of the people. You can view these paintings by Goya (and Goya's Collossus) here on the site and you can also visit the web pages dedicated to the Prado exhibition and the restoration of the two paintings.
Images on the site
- The colossus
- The Dos de Mayo, Madrid, 1808 (The attack against the Mamluks)
- The Tres de Mayo, Madrid, 1808 (The firing squads on Príncipe Pío)
What's on
- Goya in times of war, Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain
- Goya: the Disasters of War (exhibition over, but interesting webpage)
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EXHIBITION OF PROPAGANDA AND CARICATURES ON ELBA
Celebration and satire of an Emperor in 19th-century prints
Roberta Martinelli, assisted by Monica Guarraccino, has designed an exhibition of Napoleonic caricature and propaganda. It is held on the island of Elba in the two imperial residences, the Galleria Demidoff (at the Villa San Martino residence) and the Palazzina dei Mulini in Portoferraio. It includes treasures from the Matteotti collection, the Olschki and Turini-De Micheli collections, not to mention items already part of the holdings of the Napoleonic Residences on Elba. The exhibition runs until 11 June 2008 when it will be followed by the Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon, currently in the Museo Napoleonico in Rome. Catch it while you can!
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FONDATION NAPOLEON NEWS
Napoleonica la Revue: impending launch
The online history review founded and run by the Fondation Napoléon, Napoleonica La Revue is to be launched in a few days time. We will be sending out an ‘extraordinary' letter to bring you the full details, and most importantly, how to sign up.
Napoleon.org Mark III
Although we confidently announced that the launch of napoleon.org Mark III was coming soon, we have – for technical reasons - had to put the date back to September. We will be working hard to make it worth the wait...
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200 YEARS AGO
On 6 May, 1808, the senator, Georges Cabanis (1757-1808), died from an attack of apoplexy at the age of 51.
Cabanis had not only been a doctor, physiologist and philosopher but was also an active politician, becoming member of the council of the Cinq Cents, in which role he supported the coup d'Etat of 18 Brumaire. On the establishment of Empire, he was appointed to the Sénat conservateur. He was also a member of the Académie française (elected in 1803). He married Marshal Grouchy's sister. He was buried in the Panthéon, as was his due as a senator who died in office.
On 10 May, 1808, Ferdinand VII renounced the throne of Spain. Napoleon appointed his brother Joseph in Ferdinand's place as ruler of Spain, thus disappointing Murat who greatly desired that throne. On 22 May, Murat abandoned Madrid before Joseph arrived, thus leaving Spain without a military leader. Three days later the whole province of Madrid rose up. Over the next three weeks, the capital was followed by the cities of Cadiz, Seville and Valladolid.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 457, 9 - 15 May, 2008
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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Got a problem with a link in the Bulletin? Go to the homepage: http://www.napoleon.org
REMINDER
The new Bibliothèque Fondation Napoléon library times are: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 1 to 6pm, Thursday from 10am to 3pm.
During the French school holidays the library openings times are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 1-30 to 6pm.
THIS WEEK in the MAGAZINE
Press review
- First Empire, May-June 2008
Seen on the web
- Hand-painted military figurines from Waterloo by Rene Betgem
- Photos of the recent Bourtange re-enactment
Just published
- Napoleonic Artillery, by Anthony L. Dawson, Paul L. Dawson and Stephen Summerfield
- British Napoleonic Field Artillery: The First Complete Illustrated Guide to Equipment and Uniforms, by Carl E. Franklin
What's on
Re-enactments
- International Napoleonic Fair, Essex, UK
- Newstead Abbey, Nottingham, UK
- Ironfest 2008, The Battle of Lithgow, Blue Mountains, Australia
- Medina de Rioseco, Spain
- Waterloo 1815 - 10th Napoleonic Bivouacs, Vieux-Genappe, Belgium
- Valencia: International Battle Re-enactment, Spain
Talks
- Pages from military history, 1808-1815, Macerata, Italy
Conferences
- International conference: Napoleon's War in Spain: Reactions, Images and Consequences, Alicante, Spain
- War, Empire and Slavery c. 1790-1820, York, UK
- Napoleon III, man and politician, Paris, France
Exhibitions
- Coinage at War. Catalonia in Napoleonic Europe, National Art Museum of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
- Treasures of Napoleon, New Orleans, USA
- Napoleon III, der Kaiser vom Bodensee (The Emperor from Lake Constance), Arenenberg, Switzerland
- Napoleon – genius and tyrant, Namur, Belgium
- Royal weddings 1840-1947: from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II, Windsor, England
- Napoléon. Symboles des pouvoirs sous l'Empire (Symbols of Power: Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style, 1800–1815), Paris, France
- Napoleone Fasto imperiale. I Tesori della Fondation Napoléon, Rome, Italy
- 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
- "The trace of the eagle", the Invalides dome, Paris, France<<
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