Reconstructing Empress Eug?e's position as a private collector and a public patron of a broad range of media, this study is the first to examine Eug?e (1826-1920), whose patronage of the arts has been overlooked even by her many biographers. The empress's patronage and collecting is considered within the context of her political roles in the development of France's institutions and international relations. Empress Eug?e and the Arts: Politics and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century also examines representations of the empress, and the artistic transformation of a Hispanic woman into a leading figure in French politics. Based on extensive research at architectural sites and in archives, museums, and libraries throughout Europe, and in Britain and the United States, this book offers in-depth analysis of many works that have never before received scholarly attention - including reconstruction and analysis of Eug?e's apartment at the Tuileries. From her self-definition as empress through her collections, to her later days in exile in England, art was integral to Eug?e's social and political position.

Reconstructing Empress Eug?e's position as a private collector and a public patron of a broad range of media, this study is the first to examine Eug?e (1826-1920), whose patronage of the arts has been overlooked even by her many biographers. The empress's patronage and collecting is considered within the context of her political roles in the development of France's institutions and international relations. Empress Eug?e and the Arts: Politics and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century also examines representations of the empress, and the artistic transformation of a Hispanic woman into a leading figure in French politics. Based on extensive research at architectural sites and in archives, museums, and libraries throughout Europe, and in Britain and the United States, this book offers in-depth analysis of many works that have never before received scholarly attention - including reconstruction and analysis of Eug?e's apartment at the Tuileries. From her self-definition as empress through her collections, to her later days in exile in England, art was integral to Eug?e's social and political position.

"Reconstructing Empress Eug?e's position as a private collector and a public patron of a broad range of media, this study is the first to examine Eug?e (1826-1920), whose patronage of the arts has been overlooked even by her many biographers. The empress's patronage and collecting is considered within the context of her political roles in the development of France's institutions and international relations. Empress Eug?e and the Arts: Politics and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century also examines representations of the empress, and the artistic transformation of a Hispanic woman into a leading figure in French politics. Based on extensive research at architectural sites and in archives, museums, and libraries throughout Europe, and in Britain and the United States, this book offers in-depth analysis of many works that have never before received scholarly attention - including reconstruction and analysis of Eug?e's apartment at the Tuileries. From her self-definition as empress through her collections, to her later days in exile in England, art was integral to Eug?e's social and political position."--Provided by publisher.

An exploration of the little-known assemblage of art and architecture that Empress Eugénie created in Farnborough in the 1880s. This absorbing book tells the story of Empress Eugénie (1826-1920), the wife of Napoleon III and the last empress-consort of France. The Empress bought the Farnborough Hill estate in 1880, following a decade of personal tragedy: the collapse of the Second Empire (1852-70), the death of Napoleon III, and the loss of her only child. The death of the Prince Imperial in 1879, aged twenty-three, ended all hope of a Bonapartist restoration. With the imperial succession removed to another branch of the family, Eugénie resolved to create a permanent monument to her husband and son. In this book, Anthony Geraghty analyzes the principal buildings on the imperial estate and provides the first detailed account of the lost interiors of Farnborough Hill. He traces the origins of the collection back to the Second French Empire, and--drawing upon historic photos, inventories, and sale catalogs--he shows how the collection was displayed in the principal rooms of the house. Finally, the book describes the breakup of the estate in 1927, when the house was sold to a convent school and the collection was dispersed at auction. Today, only the Mausoleum functions as Eugénie originally envisaged. Geraghty, however, recovers the totality of Eugenie's vision for Farnborough. In so doing, he describes how the Napoleonic ideal, for one final time, was made visible through art, architecture, and collecting.

Excerpt from Empress Eugenie in Exile During the ten months in 1886 that it was my good fortune to spend at Farnborough in the household of the Empress Eugenie ('good for tune which I owe to an old family friend, who was intimate with the Empress), I kept up my life-long habit, when absent from home, of daily correspondence with my family. Hence these pages, culled from letters and diaries. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.