Minneapolis Institute of Art

Napoleon Bonaparteat Fontainebleau March 31, 1814

Unidentified artist, France; After Paul Delaroche

Date

after 1840

Medium

Engraving and etching on silk

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Anglophile equestrian impulses in menswear carried into the Napoleonic era. Trousers made of animal skin were still common, now with a thankfully looser fit for ease of movement. But such daywear also aligned with military uniforms, now more prevalent as Napoleon augmented France’s army in pursuit of his imperialist goals. Napoleon himself emulated Roman leaders, not for their democratic ideals but for their prowess and strategy on the battlefield. Following his exile to St. Helena in 1815, Napoleon even penned a lengthy treatise on Julius Caesar’s wars. Though he never went so far as to wear a toga, Napoleon did opt for a haircut modeled on Caesar’s. Europe

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