Musee Napoleon Premier, Fontainebleau
Philip Mansel pays tribute to the Musée Napoleon Premier.
In June1986 the Musée Napoléon Premier was opened in a wing of the Palace of Fontainebleau, overlooking the courtyard where the Emperor made his farewell speech to the Imperial Guard on April 20th, 1814. It is built around the collections of the present head of the Bonaparte dynasty, Prince Napoleon. He inherited an enormous quantity of works of art and dynastic mementoes from his godmother the Empress Eugenie as well as from his own branch of the dynasty, descended from the Emperor's youngest brother King Jerome of Westphalia. He decided to cede them to the French State in 1979. The museum also contains Napoleonic treasures which were previously in other museums.
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