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Napoleon

Napoleon – Four stages Napoleon was born in Corsica three months after it officially becoming part of France. His father Carlo was a lawyer, who managed to have his descent from minor Genoese aristocracy recognised by France. Apart from opening the doors to Carlo’s own political career, it meant that Napoleon was eligible to attend an elite military school. He was nine years old when he arrived in mainland France. Napoleon spent the first three months at a school where he learnt French (people in Corsica still spoke Italian) before joining the military academy in Champagne. It was one of 12 preparatory schools for the Military Academy in Paris. His five years there were not easy. He was surrounded by the sons of French nobility most of whom were older than him and who considered him a country bumpkin. His thick Corsican accent didn’t help. He concentrated on his studies, proving to be a good student. Mathematics were his strong point and he developed a keen interest in history, particularly ancient Rome. Napoleon finished his studies at the École Militaire in Paris where he completed a two year course in one year and graduated at 16 as a second lieutenant in the artillery regiment. While he was there his father died of stomach cancer at the age of 38. Napoleon spent some time going backwards and forwards to Corsica to see his family. The French Revolution occurred during this time. In 1793 the family left Corsica and settled in mainland France. Napoleon was 24 when his military career unexpectedly brought him recognition with his successful tactics against an English attack at Toulon. During the fighting his horse was shot out from under him and he was wounded in the leg by a bayonet (the most serious battle wound he would receive). Five days later he was made a Brigadier General. Napoleon meets Josephine Shortly after he turned 26 Napoleon met Josephine de Beauharnais, a 32 year old widow with two children. They were married less than 6 months later, two days before Napoleon left Paris to take over command of the French army in Italy. Napoleon’s unexpected success in Italy made him a national hero. The street where he and Josephine lived in Paris was renamed “rue de la Victoire”. Napoleon was made a member of the Institute of France. The question was what would happen next. The “Directory” (French government of the time) wanted him to lead an invasion of England. After checking out the options, he suggested they should take Egypt instead, which would cut off the route between England and the Indes. He assembled a troop of 30,000 soldiers as well as 167 scientists—the “Rosetta Stone” was discovered while they were there. Napoleon’s army was successful and they took over the Egyptian capital. However the following month, the English Admiral Nelson sank six French ships and captured five others. Napoleon and his troops were stranded in Egypt. While Napoleon was stranded, he learnt that Josephine had been unfaithful to him. When he returned to Paris he was determined to divorce her. When he returned Napoleon also learnt that during his absence, Josephine had purchased Malmaison, a country chateau they had looked at buying before his departure to Egypt, but Napoleon had decided it was too expensive. Happily Josephine’s tears and the pleas of her children softened his resolve. He decided to buy Malmaison (Josephine had borrowed the money for a down payment only). He sent the young architects Percier and Fontaine to renovate the old chateau and it became their “weekender”. Emperor Napoleon restores the Former Royal Residences Less than a month after returning to Paris from Egypt, Napoleon was involved in a coup d’état which overthrew the government of the Directory and set up the “Consulate”, run by three Consuls. Napoleon was named “Premier consul”, with his Paris residence at the Luxembourg Palace. In a very short time he decided he preferred to live in the Tuileries Palace and took over the former Kings’ apartment, sleeping in the same room as Louis XIV, XV and XVI. Malmaison had to share him as an out of Paris getaway. He decided to use Marie-Antoinette’s former chateau at Saint Cloud as another residence. He spent 3 million francs on repairs and decorating it. When Napoleon made himself Emperor in 1804 he decided to adopt many of the former French monarchy’s traditions. The Tuileries Palace remained his official residence and he had already restored Saint Cloud. He turned his attention to the other former residences of the kings, intending to re-establish all the former royal chateaux as imperial palaces. Originally Napoleon used the furniture remaining from the royal collection and aristocrats who had emigrated. Later he started ordering new furniture for all the former royal residences. Although he personally had simple tastes, like Louis XIV he understood the economic, political and social power associated with appearances. To revive the Lyon silk industry , Napoleon ordered silk by the kilometre to refurbish the former royal residences. The “Empire” style, both in dress and décor was a return to the antique Roman inspiration and the furniture he favoured was noble, rigid and cold.

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Josephine

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Marie-Louise’s Beds

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Marie-Louise

When Napoleon became Emperor of France, the Austrian Emperor was Marie-Antoinette’s nephew, Francis . Napoleon’s desire for an heir prompted him to divorce Josephine. He crudely said he needed to find “a womb”. He considered one of the sisters of the Russian Tsar but settled on the Austrian Emperor’s eldest daughter Marie-Louise. They were married less than three months after Napoleon divorced Josephine. Napoleon was 41 and Marie-Louise was 18. Napoleon, ever conscious of history, chose to meet Marie-Louise at the Palace of Compiègne as her great aunt Marie-Antoinette had met her husband, future Louis XVI, there 40 years earlier. Always impatient, he changed the plans for receptions and, against the norms, consummated the marriage the first night at Compiègne. (They had been married by proxy before she left Vienna. Napoleon checked with his uncle the Cardinal Fesch whether they were married. The Cardinal said they were married from a civil viewpoint, although it was questionable from a religious viewpoint. For Napoleon that was good enough.) The next morning observers commented Napoleon looked twenty years younger. He said to his aide-de-camp: My friend, marry a German. They are the best women in the world: sweet, good, innocent and fresh as roses.” The official marriage ceremonies took place in Saint Cloud (civil ceremony) and Paris (religious ceremony) five days later. Marie-Louise mostly used apartments and furniture which had previously belonged to Josephine in the imperial residences. The decorators quickly adding stitches to the fabrics to convert the “J” for Josephine to a horn of plenty. The notable exception was the Tuileries—the main imperial residence in Paris. The French royal family had been forced to leave Versailles and live at the Tuileries Palace in Paris for three years during the French Revolution. Marie-Antoinette had chosen not to stay in the former queen’s apartment, which dated back to Louis XIV’s wife Marie-Thérèse. Marie-Antoinette’s son and daughter used that apartment and she set up a new apartment on the ground floor. Napoleon had taken over the former bedchamber of the French Kings from Louis XIV to Louis XVI. Josephine chose to use Marie-Antoinette’s former apartments on the ground floor, which were directly underneath Napoleon’s. A small private staircase connected the two apartments. When Napoleon married Marie-Louise he decided to redecorate the Empress’ apartment. Josephine’s bed went to the Imperial furniture storage. Napoleon commissioned artist Pierre-Paul Prud’hon* to redecorate the new Empress’ apartment which he did in the “neo-Greek” style. *Prud’hon had painted Josephine in the park of Malmaison in 1805. He was commissioned to design decorations for special events such as Napoleon’s coronation and his wedding to Marie-Louise. He also designed the crib for Napoleon’s son. He became Marie-Louise’ art teacher. Pierre-Paul Prud’hon—self portrait The year before the divorce, the new Jewel Cabinet* Josephine had ordered for her bedroom at the Tuileries Palace was delivered. It was the single most expensive piece of furniture created by Jacob-Desmalter in the entire Imperial collection. The bronze decorations conceal the secret opening mechanism. Each of the three doors contains ten solid mahogany drawers to hold the Empress’ impressive collection. When the bedroom was refurnished for Marie-Louise, the Jewel Cabinet remained. All the secret locks were changed for the new Empress. *Marie-Antoinette’s Jewel Cabinet, now back in place in her bedroom at Versailles, was used by Josephine at the Palace of Saint Cloud.

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Roi de Rome

Josephine was a widow with two children when she married Napoleon. He was keen to have an heir but initially Josephine had been indifferent. As Josephine already had children, when she did not become pregnant, it was a natural assumption that it was Napoleon who had a problem. By the time Josephine realised it was a major issue, her age came into play (she was seven years older than Napoleon). When the young Polish Countess Marie Walewska became pregnant, Josephine knew her days were numbered. Napoleon looked around for a young wife who would bring both a royal connection and a son and heir. The Austrian emperor’s eldest daughter Marie-Louise (who was also Marie-Antoinette’s great niece) managed to deliver both. On April 2 1810, Napoleon and Marie-Louise’ official religious marriage ceremony had taken place in the Louvre. On March 20 the following year, Paris awoke to the sound of cannon fire from Les Invalides announcing a child had been born to the Imperial couple. Protocol called for 21 shots to announce the birth of a girl and 101 for a son. As soon as the 22nd shot was fired, France knew Napoleon had his much desired son and heir. The christening was attended by 7000 guests. Celebrations continued for most of the month. Food buffets, fountains of wine and orchestras entertained Parisians on the Champs Elysées with fireworks on the Place de la Concorde. The City of Paris presented the imperial couple with a cradle worthy of the Emperor’s heir. The magnificent creation of gilded silver extravagantly decorated with bronze and gold was designed by the artist Prud’hon , who had decorated Marie-Louise’ bed chamber at the Tuileries. The legs of the cradle were entwined horns of plenty. Napoleon’s emblems of the eagle and bees were present and a winged victory held the crown from which the curtains fell. The day the baby was born, he was placed in this cradle. It became his cradle at Saint Cloud. When Napoleon was exiled on Elba, Marie-Louise took her son and his lavish cradle back to Vienna with her. It remains there. However the other two original cradles are at Fontainebleau. The child was named Napoleon François Charles Joseph (after his father, grandfathers and uncle who was also his godfather) and from birth carried the title “King of Rome”. Four months before the birth of his son, Napoleon had resurrected the “Maison des enfants de France” in the model of the previous French kings. The all powerful position of governess was given to Madame de Montesquiou, the 45 year old wife of one of the Empire’s dignitaries. She had a staff of 30 people. In the months leading up to the birth, she assembled all the clothing (including 200 pairs of booties!)* and furniture for the child. For the Tuileries, she ordered an elm wood cradle with bas-reliefs representing the Seine and the Tiber rivers. Just as was the case with Napoleon, green was always the colour used for the fabrics for beds. *The booties, worn by Napoleon’s son to his christening June 9 1811, were part of an amazing collection of Napoleon memorabilia sold at auction by Prince Albert of Monaco in 2014. His great grandfather had started the collection and his father had added to it. The booties fetched 50,000 euros in the sale. The original christening gown and bonnet are in the Fontainebleau collection.

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Napoleon’s Beds

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Napoleon’s Women

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Grand Trianon

When he became Emperor in 1804 Napoleon decided to give the Grand Trianon to his mother. Furniture was delivered but “Madame Mère”, as Napoleon’s mother was known, had no interest in the Grand Trianon, largely because it had no bathrooms and toilets. Josephine had been working with Napoleon on re-furnishing the Grand Trianon in 1809 and had ordered new furniture. At the end of that year Napoleon divorced Josephine* and she would never get to stay overnight at the Grand Trianon. The first time Napoleon stayed overnight at the Grand Trianon was December 15 1809, the day after officially signing the divorce papers with Josephine. The next day he went to Malmaison to see her and organised for Josephine and her daughter Hortense to join him at the Grand Trianon for Christmas day. Ten weeks later Napoleon married Marie-Louise, the eighteen year old daughter of the Austrian Emperor by proxy in Vienna. Marie-Louise, not Josephine, occupied the Empress’ apartment at the Grand Trianon. When Louis XIV built the Grand Trianon, he moved his apartment twice before finally settling next to Madame de Maintenon’s apartment. Initially his great grandson Louis XV had no interest in the Grand Trianon. Everything changed when he wanted to spend time there with Madame de Pompadour. Madame de Pompadour occupied the former apartment of Madame de Maintenon. Louis XV turned Louis XIV’s large bedroom into a dining room (dining rooms were the new hot thing) and occupied the smaller rooms next to Madame de Pompadour. Napoleon’s new five room apartment combined both apartments, with full length doors opening on to the gardens in a private courtyard. *When Josephine did not get pregnant, Napoleon assumed he was the problem because she already had two children. He was fairly relaxed with the situation. He had organised the marriage of his younger brother Louis to Josephine’s daughter Hortense. When they had a son he thought he would be a suitable heir. Napoleon had an illegitimate son at the end of 1806 but it appears he was not entirely convinced the child was his, in spite of the resemblance. It was when the young Polish countess Marie Walewska became pregnant he had no doubt he was the father of the child. He divorced Josephine (who was 46 at that stage) when Marie was pregnant. There was no thought he would marry Marie. He began his search for what he bluntly described as a “womb”. His ambition was to marry the sister of the Russian Tsar or the daughter of the Austrian Emperor. His dynasty was in play. Marie gave birth to a son five weeks after Napoleon greeted his new bride at Compiègne. See Napoleon’s women.

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Napoleon and Versailles

The year he became Emperor Napoleon had decided to re-establish all the former royal chateaux as imperial palaces. Napoleon appointed General Duroc, who had been with him to the campaign in Italy and in Egypt, as Grand Maréchal du Palais. He was on every campaign with Napoleon but he was also responsible for his personal security which meant he was heavily involved in any plans for imperial residences. While work was going on at Fontainebleau in preparation for the Pope’s arrival, Duroc was sent to Versailles. The Chateau of Versailles was still intact, with the furniture gone and royal emblems removed. It had been used intermittently as a museum. The gardens had been neglected and the fountains and Grand Canal were empty. Napoleon commissioned architect Jacques Gondouin to draw up plans for his “grand project” to occupy Versailles. The naturalist he appointed to work on the garden accompanied him to Italy to select sculptures to bring back for Versailles. Silk was ordered from Lyon and tapestries from Gobelins in preparation of refurnishing the chateau. The first plans from the architect were not well received by Napoleon’s chief architect Pierre Fontaine (who resented not being given the project) so Napoleon dropped the idea for the time. He later returned to the idea. He had new plans drawn up by architects under Fontaine to turn Versailles into a palace for his second wife Marie-Louise, great niece of Marie-Antoinette. The first plans presented were considered OTT and Napoleon wanted them revised. War and his subsequent exile would prevent the project from happening. The Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon were a different story. *In addition to his duties as Grand Maréchal du Palais, Duroc, who was a trusted friend and advisor, carried out diplomatic missions for Napoleon. However it was finally on the battlefield he died. Duroc was with Napoleon in Silesia in 1813 where he was killed by a cannonball. Napoleon was devastated at the loss of his friend of 20 years. He ordered his burial at Les Invalides. In 1847 Duroc was finally buried at the entrance to the staircase leading down to Napoleon’s tomb. He is opposite General Bertrand, who had taken over as Grand Maréchal du Palais and accompanied Napoleon on his final exile to Saint Helena. The architect Visconti designed matching marble cenotaphs for Duroc and Bertrand who are still standing guard.

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Compiègne

Three years after starting restoration of the Chateau of Fontainebleau, Napoleon ordered work to start on another former royal residence at Compiègne. Napoleon’s desire for an heir had caused the divorce from Josephine and subsequent marriage to the 18 year old daughter of the Austrian Emperor. It appeared to be a grand design – renovating the former residences of the kings and now marrying Marie-Antoinette’s great niece. Napoleon, who always had a great sense of history chose to meet his new bride at the Palace of Compiègne, as Louis XVI had done when Marie-Antoinette had arrived from Austria forty years earlier.