Joséphine and the arts of the Empire

This richly illustrated book reveals how Joséphine, Napoléon Bonaparte’s empress, shaped the arts of early nineteenth-century France and beyond. Her incomparable sense of style, her passion for collecting, her love of gardens, and her commissions of works by major artists such as Antonio Canova, Jacques-Louis David, Pierre-Paul Prod’hon, and Pierre-Joseph Redouté set the standard for a new aesthetic. On these pages the opulence of Salon culture is set against the tumultuous era of Revolution and Empire, romance and tragedy—a world in which Joséphine rose to her own momentous role in history with singular grace and elegance.