Napoleonic art

by Barbara Ann Day-Hickman

Scholars have long debated the mysterious popularity of the Napoleonic Legend, from the emperor's final defeat in 1815 to the astounding electoral victory of his nephew, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, in the presidential elections of 1848. In this book, the author demonstrates how broadsheet illustrations about Napoleon Bonaparte helped shape popular support in regional France for the "new" Bonaparte elected in 1848. Nicholas Pellerin, an avowed republican, and Pierre-Germain Vadet, a veteran of the Imperial wars and staunch bonapartist, promoted representations of Napoleon to criticize and undermine the political status quo. The author reveals how the Pellerin broadsheets about Napoleon sustained anti-Bourbon, anti-Orleanist sentiments during the several decades preceding the revolution of 1848.