{"id":310611,"date":"2025-08-21T16:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T14:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monaco-tribune.com\/2025\/08\/unusual-items-from-monaco-et-les-napoleons-exhibition\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T16:44:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T14:44:16","slug":"unusual-items-from-monaco-et-les-napoleons-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monaco-tribune.com\/en\/2025\/08\/unusual-items-from-monaco-et-les-napoleons-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"Unusual items from ‘Monaco et les Napol\u00e9on(s)’ exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The exhibition entitled “Monaco et les Napol\u00e9on(s). Destins crois\u00e9s” currently running at the Grimaldi Forum until 31 August 2025, reveals the little-known ties between the Bonaparte dynasty and the Princes of Monaco through nearly 200 exceptional works. A number of items in the collection are out of the ordinary and bear witness to the refined lifestyle of the imperial era.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Bust of Empress Eug\u00e9nie by Charles Adrien Prosper d’\u00c9pinay<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

After the death of Napoleon III in 1873 and tragic loss of her son in 1879, Eug\u00e9nie was exiled to England and settled at Farnborough Hill in Hampshire. A regular visitor to Cap-Martin on the C\u00f4te d’Azur, she had the Villa Cyrnos built there from 1892. Dignified in her grief and surrounded by memories and loyal friends, including Prince Albert I of Monaco, she led a quiet life of travel and contemplation. <\/p>\n

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The bust of Empress Eug\u00e9nie on loan from the Ch\u00e2teau de Compi\u00e8gne \u00a9 Ch\u00e2teau de Compi\u00e8gne<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

She hosted intellectuals and European aristocrats, while supporting charitable works. She continued to show a keen interest in political and scholarly matters, and died in 1920 at the age of ninety-four, having witnessed the fall of the European empires and the end of a world in which she had played an active part. A few months earlier, she had still appeared to Prince Albert of Monaco to\u00a0“show the world an absolutely extraordinary intellectual capacity and physiological conservation.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Drawing by Henri Baron representing the official festivities at the Tuileries Palace during the Universal Exhibition of 1867<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The imperial celebrations under Napoleon III dazzled with their pomp and elegance. At the Tuileries, in Fontainebleau and Compi\u00e8gne, the Emperor and his wife the Empress Eug\u00e9nie invited artists, diplomats and other members of the elite to sumptuous balls, refined dinner parties and enchanting shows. <\/p>\n

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The official festivities at the Tuileries Palace on loan from the Ch\u00e2teau de Compi\u00e8gne \u00a9 Ch\u00e2teau de Compi\u00e8gne<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Orchestras, fireworks and illuminations filled the guests with wonder, while the etiquette was one of ‘grandeur meets social gathering’. These festivities showcased the prestige of the imperial regime and were a draw for the European aristocracy.<\/p>\n\n

Empress Jos\u00e9phine’s letter holder by Martin-Guillaume Biennais<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Carved wood, ebony, gilt bronze<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Fondation Napol\u00e9on \/ Patrice Maurin Berthier<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Created in 1810 by Martin-Guillaume Biennais, Napoleon’s favourite goldsmith, this letter holder made from carved wood, ebony and gilt bronze belonged to Empress Josephine. As well as its practical function, the object shows the attention paid to the smallest details in the Malmaison decor.\u00a0As the exhibition points out<\/a>, Jos\u00e9phine was an\u00a0“empress with taste”<\/em>\u00a0who collected objets d’art and completely changed her wardrobe every year. The letter holder is on loan from the Fondation Napol\u00e9on.<\/p>\n\n

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Pistol-shaped fragrance spray in its original travel case<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Around 1805, a brilliant craftsman created one of the most surprising objects of the Napoleonic era: a pistol-shaped perfume spray made of gold, pearls and brass. The object, preserved in its original travel case, is a perfect illustration of the refined lifestyle of the First Empire, when even beauty accessories had a military influence.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9Mus\u00e9e Collection des Arts \u2013 David and Mikhail Iakobachvili<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Summer in Monaco: major exhibitions you won’t want to miss<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Travelling case gifted by Napoleon I to St\u00e9phanie de Beauharnais on her marriage to the Prince of Baden, made by Martin Guillaume Biennais.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Gilt silver, gilt bronze, copper, porcelain, cut crystal, tortoiseshell, ivory, mahogany<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Cl. Geoffroy Moufflet – A.P.M.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

This fabulous travelling case in gilt silver, gilt bronze, copper, porcelain, cut crystal, tortoiseshell, ivory and mahogany was a gift from Napoleon I to St\u00e9phanie de Beauharnais for her marriage to the Prince of Baden in 1806. More than just a wedding gift, it symbolised the Emperor’s marriage policy. St\u00e9phanie, Jos\u00e9phine’s cousin, was adopted by Napoleon and became a diplomatic instrument for expanding France’s influence in Germany. The link with Monaco is that her granddaughter married Prince Albert I of Monaco in 1869, with the Empress Eug\u00e9nie as her matchmaker!<\/p>\n\n

Unmissable cultural events in Monaco this autumn<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Many other treasures await visitors to the exhibition, including Marshal Lannes’ campaign writing table, given to him by Napoleon I, a fabulous set of malachite cameos by Nitot & Fils, the princely uniform of Honor\u00e9 V with his decorations, and the Odiot silver service with the Grimaldi and M\u00e9rode coats of arms.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Monaco Tribune<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n