Germaine de Stael was the daughter of the Swiss banker Jacques Necker who had played a major role in finance before the French Revolution.
She was a writer who was politically very active, hosting a celebrated salon with the most influential people of the time. Germaine had a particularly tumultuous love life including a crush on Napoleon in the early stages of his power. She imagined she could be an advisor to Napoleon, in the same way Madame de Pompadour had been to Louis XV. Unfortunately for Germaine, Napoleon couldn’t stand her. She was far too outspoken and masculine for him and he found her messy love life and political views unacceptable. Juliette Recamier was more Napoleon’s style.
Shortly before he became Emperor, Napoleon banished Germaine. She was not to come within 160 kilometers of Paris. She spent some time in Germany before settling in to the Chateau of Coppet, an estate near Lake Geneva her father had bought before the French Revolution.
During her exile, Germaine’s influential friends, particularly those opposed to Napoleon, were part of the group she entertained at Coppet. Juliette Recamier stayed loyal to Germaine and was a regular visitor. She had her own bedroom set up at Coppet.
One of Germaine’s guests at Coppet was Auguste a young Prussian Prince who had been captured by Napoleon and brought to France. A peace treaty the following year allowed him to return to Berlin. En route Prince Auguste stopped for a few days at Coppet. There he met Juliette and fell in love. He extended his stay to almost three months before having to return home. Before his departure Auguste and Juliette became engaged. Juliette wrote to Jacques Recamier asking him to agree to the annulment of their marriage.
When Juliette returned to Paris, the reality of moving to a foreign country came into play. In Berlin she would not be surrounded by her family and friends and didn’t speak the language and so on.
The following year Juliette broke off the engagement. They continued to write each other letters but Juliette did not see Auguste until seven years later when he entered Paris with the Prussian army after the defeat of Napoleon. Although Auguste had moved on with his life, Napoleon later observed in his memoirs that Auguste’s feelings for Juliette had not altered.
Germaine’s political activities made her vulnerable and when she wrote a book promoting the unification of Germany, Napoleon was angrier than ever. She was confined to Coppet and spied upon. The following year she was 45 when she started an affair with John Rocca, a handsome 22 year old man from a local noble family. He had been severely injured while fighting with Napoleon’s army and was awarded the Legion of Honour.
Germaine fell pregnant almost immediately and secretly gave birth to their son.* The following month Germaine escaped from Coppet with Rocca and two of her children. They travelled to England via Russia and Sweden, the only possible route with Napoleon controlling most of Europe at that stage.
Germaine continued to cultivate friendships with all the influential people of the time. In England she met Louis XVI’s brother (who would become the next King of France when Napoleon was exiled). Lord Byron, who was a frequent visitor to Coppet, described her as Europe’s greatest living writer.
After Napoleon’s abdication Germaine returned to Paris, shortly after the arrival of the new King Louis XVIII. She became a close friend of the Duke of Wellington.
When news reached her of Napoleon’s return to France, Germaine left Paris and returned to Coppet where she concentrated on organising a suitable marriage for her daughter. After her daughter’s wedding in Italy the following year, she returned for one last time to Coppet where she secretly married John Rocca before returning to Paris.
Germaine had a stroke in Paris the following year and died a few months later. Juliette was devastated at the loss of her friend of almost twenty years.
At Juliette’s suggestion, Prince Auguste of Prussia ordered a portrait of Germaine depicting her as “Corinne”, a character from one of her novels who was based on Germaine herself.
THE PORTRAIT EXCHANGE
By the time Gérard’s portrait of Germaine was delivered Juliette was living in the Abbaye-aux-Bois in Paris where it occupied pride of place in her salon.
To thank Prince Auguste, Juliette sent him the portrait Gérard had painted of her in 1801 when she was 23. He had already been given a miniature of the portrait when the engagement had been called off. In turn he had a local artist paint his portrait in front of hers in his private rooms.
Auguste also commissioned a painting of Juliette in her salon at the Abbaye-aux-Bois with the painting of Germaine.
The Dejuinne painting shows Juliette in the same pose, 26 years later. At the age of 49 Juliette has chosen not to be painted with bare feet.
It is reminiscent of Juliette’s portrait by Jacques-Louis David painted when she was 23.
The David portrait, which was never finished, was bought by the French government when the artist died.
It was displayed in the Louvre—where it can still be seen—almost 200 years later.
The original piece of furniture, which came to be named after her, is displayed at a former residence of the man who was the love of Juliette’s life and the only one to succeed where all others had failed—the celebrated writer Chateaubriand.
