Drawing for Napoleon. The Masterpieces of the imperial State Secretariat
Title in French: Dessiner pour Napoléon, les trésors de la Secrétairerie d’État impériale
The State Secretariat was at the centre of Napoleon I’s decision-making process. It was an essential intermediary between the ministerial departments and the executive. The exhibition, opening on the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon I on 5 May 2021, revealed a little-known treasure trove from the archives: a selection of 100 restored documents (architectural plans, drawings, and maps). These pieces were displayed alongside objects from the collections from various other institutions.
A fund-raising campaign, launched in partnership with the Fondation Napoléon in 2017, made it possible to undertake the restoration and digitisation of illustrated documents from the State Secretariat. The exhibition provided an account of these efforts, notably through an audio-visual device – developed by the Fondation Napoléon from photographs of the restoration operations – and paid tribute to the donors by displaying a “donor wall” of 800 to 1,000 names.
The Fondation Napoléon lent seven works for this exhibition. Among them, the French Imperial Flagstaff Eagle (Inv. N°. 895), three porcelain plates from the Headquarters Service (Inv. Nos. 792.2, 792.12, 792.13), and the Atlas of the French Empire by Jean-Etienne Croisey (Inv. N°. 1,466).
This exhibition was part of the 2021 Année Napoléon label.
Place : Archives Nationales – Hôtel de Soubise, Paris
Dates : 10 March – 19 October 2021
Curators : Thierry Lentz, Marie Ranquet, Aude Rœlly
Set Design : Martin Michel, Costanza Matteucci
Attendance : 28 500 visitors
