From Ridley Scott comes the 2023 biopic Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte and Vanessa Kirby as Joséphine de Beauharnais. Napoleon rose to become Emperor of the French with Joséphine by his side, although he would later divorce her to marry the Austrian Archduchess Marie Louise to father an heir. The film begins with [read more]
Read part one here. Read part two here. The new Empress of the French took care of petitions, planned dinners and became a patron of the arts. She often awoke together with her husband before going about her toilette. She was given an allowance of 600,000 francs to maintain her household. Her days hardly ever [read more]
Read part one here. Joséphine had to rely on a man she met while in prison, General Hoche, to rebuild her life. All her property had been taken from her. She wrote to her mother in Martinique, currently being blockaded by the British, “You have without a doubt heard about all the awful things that [read more]
Joséphine de Beauharnais was born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie on 23 June 1763 as the daughter of Joseph de Tascher de la Pagerie and Rose-Claire des Vergers de Sannois in Les Trois-Îlets, Martinique. Her mother wrote, “It has pleased God to give us a daughter. My own joy has been no less great. [read more]
Oud-Amelisweerd in the Netherlands doesn’t really look like it has much of a royal connection. It was built in the 13th century, but it was destroyed by French troops in 1672. It wasn’t rebuilt until 1770. It passed through noble hands before being sold to King Louis Napoleon of Holland in 1808. He held the [read more]
Last week I was invited to view the new Alexander, Napoleon & Josephine: A Story of Love, War and Art exhibition at the Hermitage Amsterdam. The exhibition holds many art objects collected by Empress Joséphine after her divorce from Napoleon and also treasures such as Napoleon’s death mask, a briefcase used by Alexander I and [read more]
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