The Caesar of Paris
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- £15.99
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- £15.99
Publisher Description
Napoleon is one of history’s most fascinating figures. But his complex relationship with Rome—both with antiquity and his contemporary conflicts with the Pope and Holy See—have undergone little examination. In The Caesar of Paris, Susan Jaques reveals how Napoleon’s dueling fascination and rivalry informed his effort to turn Paris into “the new Rome”— Europe’s cultural capital—through architectural and artistic commissions around the city. His initiatives and his aggressive pursuit of antiquities and classical treasures from Italy gave Paris much of the classical beauty we know and adore today.Napoleon had a tradition of appropriating from past military greats to legitimize his regime—Alexander the Great during his invasion of Egypt, Charlemagne during his coronation as emperor, even Frederick the Great when he occupied Berlin. But it was ancient Rome and the Caesars that held the most artistic and political influence and would remain his lodestars. Whether it was the Arc de Triopmhe, the Venus de Medici in the Louvre, or the gorgeous works of Antonio Canova, Susan Jaques brings Napoleon to life as never before.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this excellent history, journalist and art historian Jaques (The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia) traces the cultural elements of the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose imperial style in everything from national rituals to coinage was largely modeled after that of ancient Rome. Jaques focuses on architecture, monuments, and the graphic and decorative arts, but also looks at political rituals, military organization, and holidays. (She notes that Napoleon's birthday, like that of the Roman emperor Augustus, was celebrated as a national feast day.) Jaques explores other political and cultural influences on Napoleon, including Alexander the Great, who inspired him to invade Egypt. She also looks at some of the artists and sculptors who worked for Napoleon, particularly Antonio Canova, who accepted some major and lucrative Napoleonic commissions, including one that depicted him in the guise of Mars not as warrior but as peacemaker. She also recounts his looting of about 300 works of art from the Belvedere Museum in Vienna. Jaques's rich work of scholarship will delight lovers of art and Napoleon aficionados, as it sheds much new light on a previously underexplored dimension of the French emperor. Illus.
