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THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN...
has a distinctly "society" feel to it this week: a number of exhibitions are taking place (or indeed will be taking place very soon) on the subject of daily palace life, both in France and in Russia. First off we have the exhibition "At the Russian Court", which takes place at the Hermitage Amsterdam, the newly opened dependency of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Next up, we have two new exhibitions taking place in France: "Josephine's wine cellar" and "A la table de l'Imperatrice Eugénie" which both take in daily life and the art of fine living in the palaces surrounding Paris. Our latest painting of the month presents an intimate depiction of Madame Mère, drawn by her granddaughter Charlotte Bonaparte. Elsewhere, we have information on a special screening of Abel Gance's Napoléon, widely-accepted to be the best screen depiction of Napoleon to date, which takes place at the Cité de la Musique (Paris) in December. Bringing up the rear as ever are our 200 (the Maison de l'empereur) and 150 years ago (Franco-British relations) sections.
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH
Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte, "Napoleonis Mater"
Charlotte Bonaparte, daughter of Joseph Bonaparte (brother of the French Emperor), painted this portrait, drawn from life, of her grandmother during a visit to the Palais Bonaparte in Rome. The portrait, one of the best examples of the imperial family, features the "mater Napoleonis" (mother of Napoleon) looking old and frail, having fractured her femur in 1831. Despite her disability and advanced years, she had lost none of her mental capacities, and was still very lucid and strong-willed.
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WHAT'S ON: HIGH SOCIETY IN THE 19TH CENTURY SPECIAL
"At the Russian Court: Palace and Protocol in the 19th Century"
Taking place at the Hermitage Amsterdam (Holland), and with more than 1,800 objects on loan from the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, this exhibition recreates life at the Russian court during the nineteenth century: a period that spanned the reigns of six tsars, from the little-known Paul I, son of Catherine the Great, to the tragic Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. One entire exhibition wing of the Hermitage Amsterdam will be devoted to the elaborate protocol of the nineteenth-century Russian court, with its public demonstrations of power and opulence. The other wing will tell the story of the grandiose dinners, parties and themed balls hosted by the tsars in the Hermitage.
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Josephine's wine cellar: wine during the Empire at the Château de Malmaison
Daily life at Malmaison (France) and the wining and dining of the imperial family form the basis of an exhibition that takes the visitor through the evolution of wine production during the Empire, as well as the Empress's purchases and orders. The exhibition also touches on the art of table decoration and service, with unique examples of wine glasses embossed with the imperial insignia, and wine chillers and punch bowls in gold and crystal. More than one hundred and fifty objects, documents and account books belonging to Josephine's suppliers retrace the history of Malmaison's wine cellar, and the "art of living" in all its finery.
"A la table de l'Impératrice Eugénie, le service de la bouche dans les palais impériaux"
"A la table de l'Impératrice Eugénie", which takes place at the Château de Compiègne, France, describes the organisation of a dinner, official or otherwise, as it would have taken place in Napoleon III's imperial residences, including Compiègne, the Tuileries, Saint-Cloud and Fontainebleau. It also covers daily life as it was in the imperial palaces of the Second Empire.
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WHAT'S ON: NAPOLEON AND THE CINEMA
Abel Gance's Napoléon at the Cité de la Musique, Paris
Taking place at the Cité de la Musique, Paris, on 13 December, 2009, is a screening of Napoléon by Abel Gance. Considered to be one of the most innovative films in film history, this performance features the remastered film and a live orchestra to accompany the images. Ground-breaking techniques that feature in the film include a twenty-minute long triptych scene, multiple image montages and split-screen "polyvision" featuring different angles of the same scene at the same time.
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200 YEARS AGO
The Maison de l'empereur
On 15 November, 1809, Napoleon, having been informed of a number of abuses taking place within the Maison de l'empereur, wrote to Count Daru, his intendant général (financial officer for the Maison de l'empereur), to inform him of his displeasure and of forthcoming changes to the organisation of the Maison.
"Monsieur l'Intendant Général, my wish is that the council for my Maison meet next Friday, the Grand Maréchal du Palais (Duroc) will preside [...] Having realised that abuse has pervaded numerous areas of my service, the council will be charged with introducing the regulations necessary to remove them. [...] It is my wish that no horses or carriages from my stables be given to or provided for any of the officers of my Maison, whoever they be, unless they are for my service." [Letter from Napoleon to Count Daru dated 15 November 1809, Correspondance de Napoléon Ier, n° 16005]
The Maison de l'empereur, which took its inspiration from European royal houses as well as the Maison du roi such as it existed at the end of the Ancien Régime, was the institution charged with the organisation of the Emperor's daily life, as well as the imperial court and palaces. Comprising areas such as security, palace upkeep and day-to-day running, the Emperor's personal servants, ceremonial events and all the Emperor's travel, the Maison was one of the key civilian institutions in Imperial France, alongside the various governmental ministries. However, the huge number of people employed and its large budget (nearly 16 million francs at the height of the Empire) left it susceptible to abuse, as is clear from Napoleon's letter.
Quand Napoléon inventait la France, edited by Thierry Lentz, a dictionary dedicated entirely to describing the political and administrative institutions of Napoleonic France, features further information on the Maison de l'empereur, including its various departments and the individuals who served as officers.
150 YEARS AGO
Franco-British tensions
Despite reciprocal state visits in 1855 (Napoleon III in London in April and Victoria visiting Paris in August), relations were far from relaxed between France and Britain. And the Franco-Austrian war in Italy had added supplementary strain. On 14 November, 1859, an article appeared in the Belfast News-Letter discussing the possibility of war with France, citing a London-based French newspaper, the Revue Indépendante, as the source for its opinions:
"The point which is most strongly enforced is that a war with England is inevitable - that in France it is the universal topic of conversation, and that it would be very popular. [...] Notwithstanding forty years of peace, the old national jealousy has not been extinguished."
"We licked Russia because she laid her paw upon Turkey", noted "A French zouave"; we licked Austria because she was playing the deuce with Italy. We shall give it to England next because we are not going to stand her treatment of the Indies and that unhappy Ireland."
Even the creation of the St. Helena medal in 1856 (the article went on) was simply an attempt to rekindle old rivalries:
"Why select such a name to commemorate the glories of the first Napoleon and the empire which he created? What does the name of St. Helena recall? Does it signify that which was most characteristic in the history of Bonaparte? On the contrary, it signifies his defeat; it signifies the power of England; it signifies the humiliation of the Empire. And why commemorate such an event with a medal, if not for some ulterior object? That object, it is argued, must have been to rekindle the feeling of antagonism to England [...]"
And the tension was to escalate, particularly when Nice and Savoy were annexed to France, Mexico was invaded and the French navy was greatly modernised, so much so that Britain began building coastal defences in the channel (known as "Palmerston's follies" due to their vast expense and lack of use) in the face of a potential French invasion!
Click here for Peter Hicks' article on the "Palmerston's follies", available on napoleon.org.
THIS MONTH'S OBJECT: UPDATE
The Prince Imperial's velocipede
We would like to thank Claude Reynaud, of the French Bicycle and Motocycle Museum, Château de Bosc, 30390 Domazan, for his close reading of last week's text on the Velocipede, this month's object of the month. We are delighted to include his corrections and useful bibliography.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 517, 13 - 19 November, 2009
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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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THE BIBLIOTHEQUE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
Autumn opening times:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 1pm-6pm
Thursday: 10am-3pm
(Closed Friday)
FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery" link to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
Statistic of the week:
A cuirassier officer helmet and cuirass have recently been sold at auction for a world record 187,500 €. The armour is a First Empire set that belonged to a colonel of the 4th cuirassiers regiment.
The Fondation Napoléon's triumvirate of Napoleonic websites:
- Napoleon.org
- Napoleonica. La Revue
- Napoleonica. Archives Online
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
PRESS REVIEW
- History Today November 2009 issue
- Book review: State and Market in Victorian Britain: War, Welfare and Capitalism
SEEN ON THE WEB
- The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
EVENTS
Now and coming soon
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Talks
- The Swiss Society of Cartography: "Napoleon's maps of Switzerland", Wabern (Switzerland), 27 November, 2009
Exhibitions
- At the Russian Court: Palace and Protocol in the 19th Century, Amsterdam, Netherlands [20/06/2009 - 31/01/2010]
Full details
- Josephine's wine cellar: wine during the Empire at Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, France [18/11/2009 - 08/03/2010]
Full details
- A la table de l'Impératrice Eugénie, le service de la bouche dans les palais impériaux, Compiègne, France [02/10/2009 - 18/01/2010]
Full details
- Napoleonic documents, prints and memorabilia, Rome, Italy [14/11/2009]
Full details
- "Portrait of a collection, a collection of portraits", Paris, France [23/10/2009 - 31/12/2009]
Full details
- "Under Napoleon's Eagle", Ljubljana, Slovenia [15/10/2009 - 25/04/2010]
Full details
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