Susan Jaques

Though Napoleon declared France to be his only mistress, he was also enamored with Italy which he would make part of his empire. Early in his career, stunning military victories across Northern Italy turned the young general into a national hero, propelling him to power. Shortly after his coronation as emperor of France, he staged a second coronation at Milan’s Cathedral where he was crowned King of Italy. Family members were installed in Tuscany, Naples, Turin and Milan as puppet rulers. Napoleon looted his way across Europe, but his favorite artworks were Italian — including some of the greatest treasures of Rome, Venice and Florence. Artists portrayed Napoleon as a modern Caesar while his architects modeled a series of iconic Paris monuments after famous Roman prototypes. With the Pope under house arrest at Fontainebleau, Napoleon ordered the papal summer palace redecorated for his triumphal entry into Rome and a spectacular third coronation at St. Peter's Basilica. But he never got there. Join Susan Jaques, author of The Caesar of Paris, for a talk about Napoleon and Italy.