Napoleon: The Imperial Household

This is a great book if you are interested in how to build your own royal legacy in a very short amount of time, because that is exactly what Napoleon Bonaparte Tried to do, and this book presents all aspects of the emperial court, all the different palaces, royal portraits and presentation of the emperor, formal court wear, court jobs and etiquett.... Everything was designed by Napoleon to achieve such splendour and regality so it will make him, a person with no aristocratic parentage whatsoever, outshine the Bourbon family who ruled France for decades and above other monarchic dynasties still ruling in other parts of Europe. Thinking about his reign of Europe and about his legacy Napoleon understood that he needs to provide both himself and his future dynasty with the power of imagery, and he actually made what we call today a "brand'. He fashioned himself as a roman emperor, thus changing the fashion and aesthetic values of that period into what we now call Empire style, so different that the style which ruled when Louis the 16th was the king. Napoleon was not only a military genius, he was exceptionally skilled in knowing how people feel and think and he knew exacatly what to do to motivate them into doing and thinking what he needed them to. With So many beautiful photographs this is a beautiful coffee table book, you can just flip through the photos, but also a great book if you intend to read it and understand thr making of a royal brand.

This book accompanied the Napoleon exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and served as the catalog. It is much more than that. Beautifully presented and well written. Show is worth seeing now....in Kansas City and other sites. Both show and book are well curated. The book and exhibit both focus on China, textile and tapestry, and porcelain as well as painting.

I'm an enthusiast of the Empire period and this catalogue is a companion to current of Napoleonic period. It covers a lot of interesting facets if the period, court life, day to day routine. A nice complement to my Empire period collection.

Recommend this well written and researched work on Napoleon's Imperial Household. If you are interested in how Napoleon projected both nobility and power through his household structure this book is for you. Photo reproductions are excellent!

I didn't buy this book during exhibition in Richmond but luckily found it on Amazon.Excellent

Beautiful book

Loved this catalog, wish I had seen the exhibit.

I was blown away by this book. Strikingly illustrated and well written essays on this material.Hope I can make it to see this show!

Fantastic book fine illustrated book.

Donc pour ma part je voulais plus d'image avec les objets et l'architecture meubles et autre du style Empire

Beautiful book, all out photographic fireworks. Not anything like those boring text books about Napoleon, this one is an impressive eye candy

thank you