Enfilade

Now on view at the Palais Fesch (as noted at Napoleon.org). . .

Caroline, Sister of Napoleon, Queen of the Arts
Palais Fesch, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Ajaccio, Corsica, 30 June — 2 October 2017

Curated by Jehanne Lazaj and Maria Teresa Caracciolo with Laëtitia Giannechini

François Gérard, Portrait of Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples (Ajaccio: Palais Fesch, Musée des Beaux-Arts / Gérard Blot).

Caroline Bonaparte (1782–1839) was a woman of a complex and difficult temperament, yet she won over hearts by her beauty, culture, and spirit, along with a deep political intelligence that reflected her ambition. Napoleon affirmed in this respect: “Of all my family, she is the one that resembles me the most.” And while her political strategy has been much criticized, her keen intelligence, her great literary culture, her relationship with the artistic sphere, and her talents as a patron and collector have long been hidden.

If this exhibition intends to honour the younger sister of Napoleon, who has often been considered the ‘capricious’ one, its primary aim is to offer the widest possible panorama of the taste of an era and to give back to Caroline Murat the place which she deserves, that of a sovereign from both a political and artistic point of view. As a princess and later a dazzling queen, despite her almost tragic destiny, she embodied the giddy era in which she lived and which allowed her to encourage artistic creation as well as to enjoy the luxury, refinement, and strategies that power allowed her.

The exhibition is divided into five thematic sections presenting works and objects from the collections of the Palais Fesch and the Mobilier National, as well as loans from private collectors and large institutions including the Musée du Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, and the Museum of Capodimonte of Naples.

The press release is available here»

The catalogue is available from ArtBooks.com:

Maria Teresa Caracciolo and Jehanne Lazaj, Caroline, Soeur de Napoléon, Reine des Arts (Milan: Silvana, 2017), 300 pages, ISBN: 978 88366 36426, $45.

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