Napoleon Bonaparte died exactly two hundred years ago on a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He had spent the last six years of his life in exile on St Helena, removed from political and military power, in the unusual situation of being able to try to shape and preserve his own posthumous legacy. He was, in a way, phenomenally successful. Napoleon is an instantly recognisable name to this day, and despite growing efforts in recent years to critically revise his reputation and highlight his role in issues such as the reinstatement of slavery, he has largely managed to escape the same level of historical censure as other infamous military dictators. This is perhaps partly because his name has become such an adaptable brand, standing for an entire era of people, places, and events, as well as a full two centuries’ worth of art, craft, and consumer commodities. While other events marking the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death have weighed his contributions to legislative, political, and military reform, less work has been done to confront his vast material, visual, and cultural legacy. This workshop therefore brings together researchers and museum and heritage professionals to reflect on the enduring material and visual legacy of Napoleon, what our interpretation and use of it means for the future, as well as how it affects our understanding of the past.

Presentation

Napoleon Bonaparte died exactly two hundred years ago on a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He had spent the last six years of his life in exile on St Helena, removed from political and military power, in the unusual situation of being able to try to shape and preserve his own posthumous legacy. He was, in a way, phenomenally successful. Napoleon is an instantly recognisable name to this day, and despite growing efforts in recent years to critically revise his reputation and highlight his role in issues such as the reinstatement of slavery, he has largely managed to escape the same level of historical censure as other infamous military dictators. This is perhaps partly because his name has become such an adaptable brand, standing for an entire era of people, places, and events, as well as a full two centuries’ worth of art, craft, and consumer commodities. While other events marking the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death have weighed his contributions to legislative, political, and military reform, less work has been done to confront his vast material, visual, and cultural legacy. This workshop therefore brings together researchers and museum and heritage professionals to reflect on the enduring material and visual legacy of Napoleon, what our interpretation and use of it means for the future, as well as how it affects our understanding of the past.

Format of the event

Online Workshop, 3 September 2021

Please register here via Eventbrite to join us for a day full of exciting papers on the Napoleonic era in culture, art and heritage.

All times are in British Standard Time (BST).

Programme

10.00–10.15  Opening Remarks

10.15–11.10  Keynote – Napoleon: A Life Told in Gardens and Shadows, In Discussion – Dr Ruth Scurr (University of Cambridge)

11.10–11.30  Break

11.30–12.15  Panel 1 – National Responses

• Vive L’Empereur!: Napoleon’s material legacy in Australia – Dr Emma Gleadhill (Macquarie University) and Dr Ekaterina Heath (University of Sydney)
• Napoléon alla turca: the Ultimate European – Fezanur Karaağaçlıoğlu (Boğaziçi University)

12.15–13.00  Panel 2 – Politics of Iconography

• Victory Shall Be Mine: the Form, Fate, and Fortune of the Vittoria di Fossombrone and Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker – Dr Melissa Gustin (University of York)
• Napoleon’s Iconography – Politics of Images and an ‘Imperial Corporate Design’? – Andrea Völker (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg)

13.00–14.00  Lunch

14.00–14.45  Panel 3 – Napoleon in the Museum

• The Mysteries of Napoleon's Toothbrush – Harriet Wheelock (Royal College of Physicians of Ireland & TU Dublin)
• Absence and Ubiquity in the Louvre’s Commemoration of Napoleonic art pillage – Nancy Karrels (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

14.45–15.30 Panel 4 – Representations on Stage and Screen

• I, Napoleon: blurred boundaries in Napoleonic performance – Dr Laura O’Brien (Northumbria University)
• The Emperor’s New Close-Up: Napoleon’s Enduring Impact on Contemporary Film as an Iconic Historical Brand – Dr Aidan Moir (York University)

15.30–16.00  Break

16.00–16.45 Panel 5 – Objects from the Sacred to the Mundane

• From Mania to Relics: The Artefacts of the 1890 Waterloo Panorama – Dr Luke Reynolds (University of Connecticut)
• The Relics of Napoleon and Modern Memory – Prof David O’Brien (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

16.45–17.30 Panel 6 – Urban and Cultural Legacies

• Perpetual Erasure: Napoleonian Politics and the Cemetery – Dr Kaylee P. Alexander (Guilford College)
• The Legacy of the Napoleonic Era on Hairstyle and Hairdressing – Hervé Boudon (Independent scholar)

17.30–17.45  Closing Remarks

Scientific coordinators

• Dr Matilda Greig (Cardiff University)
• Dr Nicole Cochrane (University of Exeter)