Special Interest Morning – The rise and falls of Napoleon and Joséphine

This year our Special Interest event will be a morning dedicated to two world famous historical figures.

Illustrated with many wonderful works of art, we will hear the extraordinary story of the rise of the son of a lawyer in Ajaccio, Corsica, to become Emperor of the French before finally being defeated and sent into exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic. The event also focuses on his first wife, the Empress Joséphine, who was one of the greatest art collectors and gardeners of her time.

The first talk will be on Napoleon himself and the second on Joséphine. We’ll look at the nature of Napoleon’s genius, his achievements and failures, his strengths and weaknesses, while also considering, for example, his relationship with the Duke of Wellington and his place within history. We’ll also see how Joséphine, with her devotion to the visual arts and horticulture, provided an excellent counterbalance to the military and legalistic tenor of Napoleon’s regime. It is a very human story, but one which has at its heart one of the most remarkable men who has ever lived.

About: Stephen Duffy

Stephen Duffy was educated at New College, Oxford, and is formerly Senior Curator of the Wallace Collection, where he had particular responsibility for exhibitions and nineteenth-century paintings. He has given countless tours of the Collection for visiting groups and many lectures on its art and other related subjects. His latest publication, The Discovery of Paris, is a book on early nineteenth-century watercolour views of Paris by major British artists.