Triomphe Tuesday

A side view of Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe which he never got to see completed.

Fake news

Napoléon Bonaparte was shrewdly aware of the impact of images, and would commission paintings depicting him in scenes that never quite happened that way, for posterity, as well as prosperity: he ensured that his story endured positively, bringing prosperity to his reputation and the Bonaparte family's influence; his nephew later became emperor. - BPJ
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Top:

Napoléon Visiting the Plague-Stricken in Jaffa (Antoine-Jean Gros) - During The Egyptian Campaign Napoléon's troops contracted the deadly, and highly contagious, Black Plague, decimating their numbers. But Napoléon wanted history to remember him as a loving leader willing to touch their open sores, risking his own life.

Bottom:

 Napoléon on the Battlefield at Eylau (Antoine-Jean Gros) - This painting of the French army's bloody victory in eastern Prussia detracts from the humiliating defeat to come during the harsh winter. In this painting Napoléon had the artist portray him as a much-adored compassionate hero whose (handsome) officers and soldiers attend to (grizzly) wounded Prussians.

 

Below:

The Coronation of Napoléon (Jacques-Louis David) - Napoleon's mother, seated on a throne under green curtains in the middle of the painting, was not there. Other on-purpose inaccuracies also occur in this painting which took place in Notre Dame Cathedral and is supposed to reflect an actual historical event.

 

Musée du Louvre

 

Farewell to Joséphine

While Napoléon might have been crazy about his impératrice Joséphine de Beauharnais (a.k.a. "Yeyette"), descendants of French colonialism are not. On Sunday her already beheaded statue, a reminder of that era, was toppled in Martinique, her birthplace.

Above: close-up from "The Empress Joséphine" by Pierre-Paul Prud'Hon

Musée du Louvre

Due to Covid-19 all visitors are now required to book a time slot and wear a mask

Vendôme

A Christmas tree lights up Place Vendôme.

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Palais-Royal #6

Columns flank Michelin starred Le Grand Véfour.