Napoléon III (1808–1873), Emperor of the French 1873 Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux French The most successful sculptor of his epoch in france, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux assiduously cultivated the imperial family for the honor of portraying its members. As early as 1852 – 53, he speculatively carved a marble relief of the emperor receiving Abd-al Kader at the Palais de Saint-Cloud and in 1853 – 55 began a plaster group on the theme of the empress protecting orphans and the arts (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes).[1] Despite these initiatives to attract commissions from Napoléon III and Empress Eugéni
Napoléon III (1808–1873), Emperor of the French 1873 Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux French The most successful sculptor of his epoch in france, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux assiduously cultivated the imperial family for the honor of portraying its members. As early as 1852 – 53, he speculatively carved a marble relief of the emperor receiving Abd-al Kader at the Palais de Saint-Cloud and in 1853 – 55 began a plaster group on the theme of the empress protecting orphans and the arts (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes).[1] Despite these initiatives to attract commissions from Napoléon III and Empress Eugénie, it was not until he was asked to do a marble statue of their son, Prince Imperial Louis-Napoléon, and the dog Nero (1867, Musée d’Orsay, Paris) that he became a favorite at court. Subsequently, busts of the emperor’s cousin Princess Matilda Bonaparte and the empress were requested and then issued from Carpeaux’s studio.[2] A number of the artist’s sketches of the family in informal settings and at formal receptions reveal that he had relatively easy access to the court and was familiar with Bonaparte features. [3] Carpeaux did not carve a bust of the emperor, however, until the end of Napoléon III’s life. Finished posthumously, it is one of the most moving and brilliantly executed portraits by the preeminent Second Empire sculptor. The dramatic circumstances of its commission contribute to its emotional power. In 1871, after Napoléon III sought refuge in England following the events of the Paris Commune, Carpeaux was summoned by Louis-Napoléon to portray the emperor at his retreat at his place of exile in Chislehurst. Back in Paris, having barely begun the project, the sculptor was hastily recalled to England to complete the bust. In the event, he arrived after Napoléon’s death and could only make sketches of the emperor laid out on his funeral bier on January 13, 1873, the date inscribed on the bust. Carpeaux executed a remarkably can
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