THE INCOMPARAB LE JOSEPHINE
BY DIANA SCARIS BRICK, FSA
These majestic jewels mounted with cameos and intaglios
certainly evoke the style of the Empress Josephine- her rank
as wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, her impeccable taste and her
interest in antiquity.
From her first visit to Italy in June 1796
to December 1797, as the wife of the all conquering General
Bonaparte she was acquiring engraved gems from Rome and
receiving them as gifts from victorious generals wanting to
please her and from members of the Bonaparte family resident
or travelling in Italy.
Of these, Napoleon’s sister Caroline and
her husband, Joachim Murat were the most enthusiastic
acquirers of antiquities.
fro m the Vatican after the conquest of Rome, but it already
ha d a long history having been in the Gonzaga of Mantua
col lection and, after Josephine had presented it to the Russian
Ts ar Alexander 1 in 1814, the cameo became and remains the
glo ry of the Hermitage Museum.
Bu t Josephine was more than a collector.
Where her influence
wa s most felt was in the way she saw that cameos and
int aglios could take their place with diamonds and pearls as
fas hionable jewellery.
She took them out of the collector’s
ca binets and encouraged her jewellers to mount them in
att ractive settings, worthy of the images depicted.
Thus she is
we aring a bandeau and necklace of cameos representing the
La bours of Hercules in a dramatic portrait painted by Andrea
Ap piani in 1801, perhaps intended as an allegory of Napoleon’s
vic tories.
H.
Vever, L’Histoire de la Bijouterie Francaise au
XIX * Siecle (1908) Vol 1, p 69-.70
mentions another portrait
in which she wears a necklace composed of 15 to 18 large oval
ca meos within diamond borders and linked by four rows of
dia mond set gold chains, a band of large cameos encircles
he r forehead and there is a very important crown placed
ab ove her chignon, which could be similar to the examples on
sal e.
In 1808 the official jeweller, Nitot, created a pearl parure
co mposed of 45 cameos and 36 intaglios removed from the
nat ional collection by imperial decree, but which unfortunately
pro ved so heavy that there is no record of it being worn by
Jo sephine.
She must have been disappointed, as according to
Ma demoiselle Avrillion, in charge of her jewellery, Josephine’s
gre atest pleasure when at Malmaison was to sit at a table with
he r ladies beside a fire, and show them the cameos she was
we aring that day.
Then she would call for the boxes containing
the rest of the collection to be brought so that every piece
co uld be examined.
Advised by Dominique-Vivant Denon, Director of the Musée
Napoleon, she learnt to distinguish between the various
hardstones used, to appreciate the virtuoso engraving
techniques, and to recognize the gods and heroes of
mythology, successive Roman Emperors and Empresses, and
the significance of the scenes depicted.
Napoleon approved.
Since the noble art of gem engraving had been patronized by
the rulers of the ancient world and he liked to present himself
as their successor Napoleon associated this technique with
his own regime, promoting contemporary French artists such
as J.H.
Simon, engraver of the official seals, and R.V.
Jeuffroy,
appointed director of a school of gem engravers.
From 1805
the Prix de Rome, hitherto reserved for painters, sculptors
and architects was also awarded to engravers.
He bought
extensively from the Italian engravers such as Nicola Morelli
and Giuseppe Girometti who were bringing the great Roman
tradition of gem engraving to a triumphant conclusion, and
produced his cameo portrait taking advantage of his classical
profile, so he looked like a modern Augustus.
To encourage his
wife’s interest in this art, he gave her the magnificent double
portrait of Ptolemy Philadelphus and Arsinoe II, engraved in 3rd
Century B.C.
Alexandria.
Napoleon had removed this cameo
20
Opposite:Portrait of Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763- 1814), Andrea Appiani, circa 180