A Palace for the Emperor. Napoleon I at Fontainebleau.
RMN - Grand Palais| N° d'inventaire | 25012 |
| Format | 22 x 28 |
| Détails | 240 p., 220 color illustrations, paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2021 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782711878543 |
Fontainebleau experienced a particularly lavish period under the First Empire (1804-1815) thanks to the new life given to the palace, unaffected and emptied of its furniture in the aftermath of the Revolution, thanks also to the brilliant life that took place there. It is a second renaissance that is beginning. During the stays of Napoleon I (1804, 1807, 1809, 1810), rich in political and family events, the Emperor's deep attachment to the palace was confirmed. By having the former house of the kings of France restored at great expense, under the leadership of the architects Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, the Emperor demonstrated the prominent place he wished to give back to Fontainebleau among the other imperial residences, such as the Tuileries, Saint Cloud, Compiègne, Rambouillet, etc. The roofs were restored, the interior decorations restored, the apartments lavishly refurnished, the theater renovated, the Louis XV wing arranged for the princes, and the gardens renewed in the style of the time. Despite this uninterrupted activity, his work as a restorer, eminently respectful of the castle, remains difficult to define, especially since successive regimes, in particular the Restoration, erased part of his contributions.
The aim of the exhibition is to highlight Napoleon's work at Fontainebleau and to analyze the way in which the Emperor invested the château. Through more than two hundred works from the Fontainebleau collection (collections, libraries and archives), but also from French and foreign public collections, the sumptuousness of Josephine's fittings, the luxury of the furniture intended for the palace, the Emperor's extraordinary library and the transformation of the François I gallery are revealed . and the major projects abandoned after the fall of the regime.
The exhibition will explore themes as varied as architecture, painting, sculpture, gardens, decorative arts, libraries, while also illustrating "great history."
Reflecting the exhibition, the catalogue takes stock of all aspects of Napoleon's artistic patronage of Fontainebleau: architecture, painting, sculpture, decorative arts, libraries, gardens. The result of extensive research, it benefits from the contributions of the best specialists on Fontainebleau and the Empire. It presents a majority of previously unseen works revealed and restored on the occasion of the exhibition, often coming from the collections of the château itself: architectural drawings, furniture previously in reserve, precious books .
Fontainebleau experienced a particularly lavish period under the First Empire (1804-1815) thanks to the new life given to the palace, unaffected and emptied of its furniture in the aftermath of the Revolution, thanks also to the brilliant life that took place there. It is a second renaissance that is beginning. During the stays of Napoleon I (1804, 1807, 1809, 1810), rich in political and family events, the Emperor's deep attachment to the palace was confirmed. By having the former house of the kings of France restored at great expense, under the leadership of the architects Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, the Emperor demonstrated the prominent place he wished to give back to Fontainebleau among the other imperial residences, such as the Tuileries, Saint Cloud, Compiègne, Rambouillet, etc. The roofs were restored, the interior decorations restored, the apartments lavishly refurnished, the theater renovated, the Louis XV wing arranged for the princes, and the gardens renewed in the style of the time. Despite this uninterrupted activity, his work as a restorer, eminently respectful of the castle, remains difficult to define, especially since successive regimes, in particular the Restoration, erased part of his contributions.
The aim of the exhibition is to highlight Napoleon's work at Fontainebleau and to analyze the way in which the Emperor invested the château. Through more than two hundred works from the Fontainebleau collection (collections, libraries and archives), but also from French and foreign public collections, the sumptuousness of Josephine's fittings, the luxury of the furniture intended for the palace, the Emperor's extraordinary library and the transformation of the François I gallery are revealed . and the major projects abandoned after the fall of the regime.
The exhibition will explore themes as varied as architecture, painting, sculpture, gardens, decorative arts, libraries, while also illustrating "great history."
Reflecting the exhibition, the catalogue takes stock of all aspects of Napoleon's artistic patronage of Fontainebleau: architecture, painting, sculpture, decorative arts, libraries, gardens. The result of extensive research, it benefits from the contributions of the best specialists on Fontainebleau and the Empire. It presents a majority of previously unseen works revealed and restored on the occasion of the exhibition, often coming from the collections of the château itself: architectural drawings, furniture previously in reserve, precious books .