AUSTRIAN SCHOOL, Circa 1818
Portrait of Napoleon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte
remnants of a signature in the lower right
Haro, La Maison au Génie des Arts, 30 Rue du Colombier, Paris on a label stamped on the reverse of the original canvas
oil on canvas
54 ½ x 35 ¼ inches (138.4 x 89.5 cm)
PROVENANCE
presumably, Colonel Aymar Olivier Le Harivel de Gonneville (1783 – 1872), and by descent in the family to
Sibylle–Gabrielle-Marie–Antoinette de Riquetti de Mirabeau, Comtesse de Martel de Janville (1849 – 1932) (French author who wrote under the pseudonym Gyp), and thus by descent in the family to
Private Collection, Michigan, until 2018
EXHIBITED
Exposition Universelle de 1900, Paris, April 15 – November 12, 1900 (according to tradition in the Comtesse’s family)
The story of Napoleon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1811 – 1832), the son of Napoleon Bonaparte, is perhaps best summed up in a letter of 1830 written by Joseph, his father’s brother, while exiled in New Jersey:
“I was born eighteen months before your father, we were raised together, nothing ever lessened the intimate friendship that united us; at his death he left you in my care to realize his last wishes… When you were born in Paris, 20 March 1811, your father had become, through the love of the French people… the most powerful prince of Europe. Even at this hour, I think that you have been called upon to continue the work with which a divine genius inspired your father.” [1]
Napoleon’s son was once designated as ruler of half of Europe and regarded as “The Hope of France.” He was successively titled King of Rome, Prince of Parma, Napoleon II, and the Duke of Reichstadt owing to a sequence of historical events. His mother was the Archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of the Habsburg Emperor Francis II of Austria. Expectations were that her union with Napoleon Bonaparte would bring peace to the Continent. Instead Napoleon looked to conquer Russia, a country he regarded as “the last hindrance to his dominion over the world.” [2] It would prove to be the beginning of his undoing.
By 1814 the young Napoleon, now called “Franz,” had fled along with his mother to Austria and the protection of the Habsburg court. They would never return to France or see Napoleon again. Franz was installed in Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, under the guardianship of his grandfather Emperor Francis II. By March 1816 his mother, now the Duchess of Parma, had left him in Vienna to take up residence in Parma. In 1818 the title of the Duke of Reichstadt was bestowed upon Franz in the attempt to sever all ties with his past and send a very clear message to the Bonapartists, essentially removing him from the world stage. All of his French attendants were dismissed, leaving the child in complete isolation from all that he had known.[3] Further he would never be allowed to leave Austria again.
This exquisite portrayal of Franz is set on a stone porch overlooking a lake with mountains in summer. Thomas J. Vance, author of the forthcoming biography Francis Bonaparte: An American View of Napoleon II, has suggested the location of this painting as the Imperial Castle at Persenbeug on the Danube. After recently receiving a current image of the view of the Danube from Persenbeug Castle, along with the identification of the Ötscher mountain that dominates the landscape, this appears to be confirmed. That summer Franz was reunited with his mother whom he had not seen since her departure in 1816, and they were together during July, August and much of September. It appears that most of their time during July and August was spent together at Persenbeug along with the rest of the Imperial family. Vance has further noted that on July 22, 1818, Franz was officially given the title of the Duke of Reichstadt, and that it is logical for portraits to have been executed marking the occasion.[4] It is recorded that upon his mother’s arrival his hair was cut short, as previously he had worn it much longer.[5] After an idyllic summer, he would not see his mother again for another 21 months.[6]
Thomas J. Vance who wrote The Eaglet in Uniform: The Military Service of Napoleon II, has suggested the costume Franz wears might be in keeping with his new title of Duke.[7] His outfit in fact could be a romanticized interpretation of Bohemian folk dress referencing the domains now under his rulership which included among others Tachlowitz, Chrustenitz, Kron-Porzitschen, Plosskowitz, Trnowan, Buschtierad and of course Reichstadt.[8] Interestingly the incised pattern on the forefoot of his leather gaiters would appear to reflect the Habsburg double-headed eagle.
Franz’s features favored those of his mother being slender and tall with an abundance of curly blond hair and expressive blue eyes. He is believed to be seven years old, caught in the midst of tremendous upheaval. His stance serves to underline the inner conflict felt by the two opposing factions that would govern his entire life. He has doffed his hat with his right hand, welcoming the viewer into the scene. Emblematic in portraiture since the seventeenth century, it is a gesture representative of proper breeding as well as a show of respect for and obedience to authority.[9] His left hand is a clenched fist that rests on his hip. Such posturing is standardly interpreted as a sign of hostility and assertiveness, mixed with anxiety and discomfort. It further projects an inner struggle, with an effort to harden oneself. The pout of his lips gives additional credence to the perceived conflict.
This dichotomy is borne out in contemporary accounts by his tutors. They experienced “the difficulty of keeping this unruly spirit, which seemed to be compounded of contrariety, in the right road. According to an old habit, scarcely had he made some progress in a study, then he took a kind of delight in displaying a complete ignorance of what he knew admirably well. Frequently he gave the entire staff of teachers… no opportunity whatever of congratulating themselves on the least success. If for a considerable time he had been writing really nice letters, suddenly he would take a pleasure in making use of a bombastic, almost unintelligible style.”[10] Fighting back in the only way possible, the root of Franz’s discord was also well understood. “This child, who showed a cold and disdainful indifference to all the world, who parted from the members of his household with astonishing coolness… -- who did not even cry when his mother left him, this boy, who seemed almost heartless, was occupied day and night with the thought of his father.” [11]
Hardly surprising, the same sentiment was shared by his father. Napoleon’s two rooms at Longwood House on the island of St. Helena where he died in 1821, contained numerous portraits of his son. A contemporary account in The London Magazine reported “When he found that his illness was likely to prove fatal, he directed (a) picture of his son to be placed at the foot of his bed and died with his eyes fixed on it!” Napoleon is reported to have spoken constantly of his son while still lucid.[12]
Franz died tragically in 1832 at the age of 21 from tuberculosis at Schönbrunn Palace. Shortly before his death he would sum up his life as “my birth and my death… that’s the whole story.”[13] It would be to Persenbeug that his mother as well as the Emperor along with the Imperial court would retire to mourn his passing, “deeply affected by its association with ‘the loved one’.”[14] In France, his death hit particularly hard. Prints, books, plays and poems, including one most notably by Victor Hugo, memorialized the young Duke. The outpouring of grief was perhaps best expressed by an old soldier, “A présent tout est fini.” [15] (Now all is finished.)
Although at this point, the painter of this picture is unknown, its origin is Austrian. Two distinct facial types emerged in the portrayals of the Duke of Reichstadt. One evoked the Habsburg rulers with an elongated face, deep eyes, and a pensive look, crowned by copious blond curls. The other type emphasized a large head and forehead with the same short dark hair of his father. The hairstyle was the most important defining factor in all representations.[16]
Due to the stamp of La Maison Haro on the reverse of the original canvas, we know that this portrait was in Paris no later than 1826 – 1836. The address given on the stamp of 30 Rue du Colombier, Paris is one that applies only for these years, prior to the firm’s relocation.[17]
We do not know at what date this portrait entered the family collection of the Comtesse de Martel de Janville, but “portraits of Napoleon and Murat[18] had stared down imperiously at the three-year old … as she awoke for the first time in her Nancy bedroom. The Comtesse wrote ‘It’s between this Napoleon and battles (paintings depicting his military victories) that I lived’”.[19] In other parts of the house more portraits of important figures of the Napoleonic era lined the walls.[20] This was the home of her grandfather, who became a surrogate father, and in all likelihood from whom she inherited the portrait of Napoleon’s son.
The Comtesse’s grandfather Colonel Aymar Olivier Le Harivel de Gonneville was a member of one of the oldest aristocratic families of Normandy, whose ancestors had participated in the Norman Conquest. Gonneville had been a Cuirassier officer in Napoleon’s army from 1804 – 1815 in the calvary regiment of the 13th Cuirassiers which was regarded as its most distinguished.[21] Gonneville of the Cuirassiers: The Personal Recollections of a French Cavalryman of the First Empire (Souvenirs Militaires du Colonel de Gonneville) was first published in 1875 in a two-volume set, in which he recounted his exploits. Still readily available today in both English and French, the work is regarded as an invaluable insight into the daily life of a Napoleonic soldier. For Gonneville, Napoleon’s dream of a new world order never died. A portrait of Napoleon’s son would have had pride of place in his household.
For his granddaughter, the Comtesse, the unique importance of her grandfather’s art collection cannot be overstated, characterized by her biographer Willa Z. Silverman as a “profound identification with the Emperor” (Napoleon) which influenced her entire life and work. As Gyp, she published over one hundred novels, twenty plays, hundreds of articles, four volumes of recollections, as well as worked as a caricaturist— “a feat virtually unheard of for a late nineteenth century French woman.” [22] In 1913 she published a novel titled Napoleonette, which relays the story of the Emperor’s godson who accompanies his “adored father during the five Napoleonic campaigns, the only child to participate in battle.”[23] The Napoleonic legend’s appeal struck a chord with the French public, particularly during this time. His story was “rooted in a familiar and glorious era” and “his example… served as a promise for the future at a time when heroes seemed conspicuously absent in French life.” [24]
This was equally true of the Duke of Reichstadt. In 1900 a play titled L’Aiglon (The Eaglet), based on his life was staged in Paris with Sarah Bernhardt playing Franz. It would become one of her leading roles, and also tour in London and New York. Other tributes through the years would include several films, starting in 1911 recounting his life story, numerous books, an opera, operetta, and a waltz, as well as four museum retrospectives held in France from 1932 to 2011. [25]
Our portrait was executed at the most consequential moment of Franz’s existence, during one of his happiest periods, in a place he loved. Succinctly captured is the pathos and glory which was the essence of his life in a visual presentation that no other medium can approach. Without a doubt his is a story the world finds unforgettable.
We would like to thank Thomas J. Vance, author of the forthcoming biography, Francis Bonaparte: An American View of Napoleon II, for his invaluable help in the writing of this entry. Important documentation and information were provided by Pascal Labreuche of The Labreuche Guide, Historical Guide to Artists’ Suppliers in Paris 1780 – 1960 and Sina Phan author of La Pratique de la Restauration au Sein de la Maison Haro (1825 – 1925) of the Institute National du Patrimoine, Paris for which we are very grateful. Finally, it is with sincere gratitude that we thank Alexander Habsburg-Lothringen for sending a current comparative view from Persenbeug Castle.
[1] Patricia Tyson Stroud, The Man Who Had Been King, The American Exile of Napoleon’s Brother Joseph, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2005, p. 156.
[2] Edward von Wertheimer, The Duke of Reichstadt (Napoleon the Second), John Lane Company, New York, 1902, p. 52.
[3]Ibid, pp. 209 – 212, 302.
[4] Written communication from Thomas J. Vance, dated March 17, 2019.
[5] André Castelot, King of Rome: A Biography of Napoleon’s Tragic Son, Harper, New York, 1960, p. 219.
[6] Alan Palmer, Napoleon & Marie Louise, The Emperor’s Second Wife, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2001, p. 210.
[7] Written communication from Thomas J. Vance, dated March 17, 2019.
[8] André Castelot, op. cit., p. 216.
[9] Wayne E. Frantis, Paragons of Virtue, Women and Domesticity in Seventeenth Century Dutch Art, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995, p. 158.
[10] Edward von Wertheimer, op.cit., p. 296.
[11] Ibid, p. 276.
[12] “Report of Appearances of Dissection of the Body of Napoleon Bonaparte” in The London Magazine, Volume 4, May 6, 1821; Thomas J. Vance, “A Press Conference Fit For an Emperor” in The Napoleon Series, www.napoleonseries.org/research/napoleon/c_press.html; and Geri Walton, “Napoleon’s Rooms at the Longwood House”, on www.geriwalton.com, December 8, 2017.
[13] André Castelot, op.cit., p. 357.
[14] Alan Palmer, op. cit., p. 227.
[15] Edward von Wertheimer, op. cit., pp. 426-428.
[16] John Grand-Carteret, L’Aiglon en images et dans la fiction poetique et dramatique, Paris, 1901, p. 107.
[17] “Haro” on Guide Labreuche website www.labreuche-fournisseurs–artistes-paris.fr.
[18] Joachim – Napoléon Murat was a Marshal of the Empire and Admiral during the reign of Napoléon. He was also Napoleon’s brother-in-law.
[19] Willa Z. Silverman, The Notorious Life of Gyp, Oxford University Press, New York, 1995, p. 14.
[20] Willa Z. Silverman, “Mythic Representations of Napoleon in the Life and Works of Gyp” in Correspondences: Studies in Literature, History, and the Arts in Nineteenth Century France, The University of Oklahoma, 1992, p. 205.
[21] Willa Z. Silverman, op. cit., 1995, pp. 12, 14-15.
[22] Willa Z. Silverman, op. cit., 1995, p. 125.
[23] Willa Z. Silverman, op. cit., 1992, p. 211.
[24] Venita Datta, Heroes and Legends of Fin-de-Siècle France, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2011, p. 140.
[25] These exhibitions were Souvenirs du Roi de Rome: exposition organisée à l’occasion du centenaire de sa mort, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, 1932; L’Aiglon, Musée National de la Légion d’honneur et des orders de chevalerie, Paris, 1993; La Poupre et l’Exil: L’Aiglon (1811 – 1832) et le Prince Imperiál (1856 – 1879), Musée National du Château de Compiègne, 2005; and Enfance Impériale: Le Roi de Rome, Fils de Napoléon, Château de Fontainebleau, 2011.