Napoleon's iconic hat and other relics exhibited in Paris before auction
Kyiv • UNN
More than 100 Napoleon relics, including his iconic bicorne hat, are on display in Paris before one of the most important auctions. The exhibition, with hypnotic music and mist, allows visitors to touch history.
Experts consider the new "Napoleonic" auction one of the most important ever organized. Currently, more than 100 relics that once belonged to the prominent French statesman are on display in Paris.
UNN reports with reference to Associated Press.
Details
More than 100 relics associated with the prominent French figure, military leader, and first consul of the French Republic, Napoleon Bonaparte, are on display in Paris ahead of what experts are calling one of the most important auctions ever held.
“These are not just museum pieces. These are fragments of a life that changed history. You can literally hold a piece of Napoleon’s world in your hands,”
What exactly makes up the grand "Napoleonic" lot?
The "star" of the show, or the central lot, is Napoleon's symbolic bicorne, a black felt hat he wore in battle.
A hat with wings positioned parallel to the shoulders, so that both soldiers and enemies could instantly spot him through the smoke of battle.
Among the objects also:
- a worn military cap;
- a sleeve from a red velvet coat;
- divorce papers that ended one of history's most troubled romances - with Josephine, the empress who haunted him to the end.
- a handwritten codicil to Napoleon's last will and testament, written during a paranoid illness on Saint Helena.
A spectacular exhibition of items that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte
The exhibition was created by the famous designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. He dressed Lady Gaga and Pope John Paul II.
“I wanted to electrify history... It’s not a mausoleum, it’s a pop culture installation.”
"Today's collectors are buying Napoleonic-era items as if they were buying Jimi Hendrix's guitar. They want a cabinet of curiosities," adds the expert.
Castelbajac filled the exhibition with "fog, hypnotic music, and captivating rooms."
- one inspired by the camouflage colors of Fontainebleau;
- the other by Napoleon's legendary folding bed.
“I thought of the fog at the entrance of the Sotheby’s building, because the elements of nature were complicit in Napoleon’s strategy,”
Recall
UNN has already reported that Napoleon Bonaparte's personal belongings from a private collection are planned to be put up for auction at Sotheby's. Among the lots are a bicorne, a heraldic sword, and the emperor's personal relics.
Film director Ridley Scott compared the first emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, to Adolf Hitler and other odious historical figures. Such a comparison caused criticism from the French.