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Joséphine de Beauharnais

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For her granddaughter, the queen consort of Sweden and Norway, see Josephine of
Leuchtenberg. For the racehorse, see Empress Josephine (horse).
Joséphine
Viscountess of Beauharnais
Duchess of Navarre
Empress Joséphine in her forty-fifth–forty-sixth year
Portrait by Antoine-Jean Gros, c. 1809
Empress consort of the French
Tenure 18 May 1804 – 10 January 1810
Coronation 2 December 1804
Queen consort of Italy
Tenure 23 May 1805 – 10 January 1810
Born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie
23 June 1763
Les Trois-Îlets, Martinique, French Antilles
Died 29 May 1814 (aged 50)
Rueil-Malmaison, Kingdom of France
Burial Church of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul, Rueil-Malmaison, France
Spouse
Alexandre, Viscount of Beauharnais

(m. 1779; died 1794)

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French

(m. 1796; ann. 1810)

Issue
By Alexandre:
Eugène, Duke of Leuchtenberg
Hortense, Queen of Holland
Names
Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie
House Tascher de La Pagerie
Father Joseph Gaspard Tascher de La Pagerie
Mother Rose Claire des Vergers de Sannois
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature Joséphine's signature
Joséphine Bonaparte (French: [ʒozefin bɔnapaʁt], born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de
La Pagerie; 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was Empress of the French as the first wife
of Emperor Napoleon I from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10
January 1810. As Napoleon's consort, she was also Queen of Italy from 26 May 1805
until the 1810 annulment. She is widely known as Joséphine de Beauharnais (French:
[ʒozefin də boaʁnɛ]).

Joséphine's marriage to Napoleon was her second. Her first husband, Alexandre de
Beauharnais, was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she was imprisoned in
the Carmes Prison until five days after his execution. Through her children by
Beauharnais, she was the grandmother of the French emperor Napoleon III and the
Brazilian empress Amélie of Leuchtenberg. Members of the current royal families of
Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway and the grand ducal family of Luxembourg also
descend from her. Because she did not bear Napoleon any children, he had their
marriage annulled and married Marie Louise of Austria. Joséphine was the recipient
of numerous love letters written by Napoleon, many of which still exist.

A patron of art, Joséphine worked closely with sculptors, painters and interior
decorators to establish a unique Consular and Empire style at the Château de
Malmaison. She became one of the leading collectors of different forms of art of
her time, such as sculpture and painting.[1] The Château de Malmaison was noted for
its rose garden, which she supervised closely.

Name
Although she is often referred to as "Joséphine de Beauharnais", it is not a name
she herself used. "Beauharnais" is the name of her first husband, which she ceased
to use upon her marriage to Napoleon, taking the last name "Bonaparte".[2] And she
did not use the name "Joséphine" before meeting Napoleon, who was the first to call
her such, perhaps from her middle name, Josèphe. Before she met Napoleon, she went
by the name of Rose, or Marie-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, later de Beauharnais. She
sometimes reverted to using her maiden name in later life. After her marriage to
then-General Bonaparte, she adopted the name Joséphine Bonaparte. The misnomer
"Joséphine de Beauharnais" emerged during the restoration of the Bourbons, who were
hesitant to refer to her by either Napoleon's surname or her imperial title.
[citation needed]

Disputed birthplace
In Henry H. Breen's 1844 The History of St. Lucia, he stated that he had met with
"several well-informed persons" who were convinced that Empress Joséphine had been
born there. Breen presented some evidence for this, including a newspaper clipping
from 1831 which said that it was "alleged" that the de Taschers were among the
first settlers of Saint Lucia, and that the future empress was born on a small
estate on a hill then called La Cauzette, and later known as Morne Paix Bouche.
According to this story, the family lived there until 1771, when the father went to
serve as intendant of Martinique. Some people even claimed to have been among
Joséphine's playmates, and one of them said that he had been "graciously received"
by the widowed empress in Malmaison. Breen received further confirmation from
Joséphine's enslaved nanny, Dede, who said that she nursed Joséphine at La
Cauzette.

Joséphine's baptism was administered by Emmanuel Capuchin at Les Trois-Îlets, but

the registry only stated she had been baptised there, not born. Dom Daviot, parish
priest in Gros Islet, wrote a letter to one of his friends in 1802 stating that "it
is in the vicinity of [his] parish that the wife of the first consul was born". He
asserted that he was well acquainted with Joséphine's cousin, his parishioner.

Joséphine's father owned an estate in Soufrière District called Malmaison, the name
of her famous French residence. It is also assumed that the de Tascher estate in
Martinique was a pied-à-terre, occasional lodging, for when they wanted to stay
with his mother-in-law. Saint Lucia switched hands between Great-Britain and France
fourteen times, and there were no civil registers on the island when Joséphine was
born. Saint Lucia's frequent change of ownership between Britain and France could
be seen as the reason her birthplace was left out of her birth record as it would
have affected her nationality.[citation needed]

Early life
Childhood
Marie-Josèphe-Rose Tascher de La Pagerie was born in Les Trois-Îlets, Martinique,
to a wealthy French family who owned a sugarcane plantation, which is now a museum.
[3] The Taschers were an ancient French family of country gentry, and Joséphine's
grandfather, Gaspard-Joseph was the first to settle in Le Carbet on Martinique in
1726.[4] He seems to have lived in poverty there, but secured a position as a page
for his son, Joseph-Gaspard (1735–1790) in the household of the Dauphine of France,
Maria Josepha of Saxony.[4]

After spending three years from 1752 in France, Joseph-Gaspard returned to

Martinique and married Rose-Claire des Vergers de Sannois (1735–1807), whose
maternal grandfather, Anthony Brown, may have been Irish.[5] Rose-Claire was from
one of the oldest European families on the plantation, and the Tascher family home
near Les Trois-Îlets was part of her dowry. Joséphine was their first child, and
they had two more: Catherine-Désirée in 1764 and Marie-Françoise in 1766.[4]
Joseph-Gaspard earned his living as a plantation owner and a lieutenant of the
Troupes de marine, apart from a small pension for his work in the royal household.
He was almost always close to bankruptcy and suffered from ill health.[4]

Joséphine was raised by an enslaved nurse called Marion, whose freedom she would
secure in 1807.[4] At the age of ten, she and Catherine-Désirée were sent to a
boarding school in Fort-Royal, run by the Bénédictines de la Providence. There,
they learned to read, write, sing, dance, and embroider for four years. After the
death of Catherine-Désirée, Joséphine returned to her parents' plantation.[4]

First marriage
Background

Alexandre-Francois-Marie, Vicomte de Beauharnais by Georges Rouget

Joséphine's paternal aunt, Marie-Euphémie-Désirée Renaudin, was the mistress of a
French naval officer, François de Beauharnais, from a less ancient but richer noble
family.[4] While living on Martinique, de Beauharnais had a son, Alexandre, by his
wife. Soon, the parents returned to France, and left the infant with the Tascher
family until 1766.[4] When he had come of age, his father's mistress, who was also
Alexandre's godmother, decided that it would be advantageous to her if he married
one of her nieces. Aged seventeen, he judged fifteen-year-old Joséphine to be too
close to him in age, and thus, Catherine-Désirée was chosen for him. As the bride's
father was impoverished and the bridegroom was to become a wealthy man upon his
marriage, he asked for no dowry.[6]

By the time Alexandre's father had proposed in a letter, however, Catherine-Désirée

had died. Not wanting to lose the rich suitor, her father offered his youngest
daughter instead, which was accepted by Alexandre. Marie-Françoise was not yet
twelve, however, and her mother and grandmother were not willing to let her go. In
the end, Joséphine was engaged to Alexandre.[7]

In October 1779, she went to France with her father. She married Alexandre on 13
December 1779, in Noisy-le-Grand. They had two children: a son, Eugène de
Beauharnais, and a daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais (who later married Napoleon's
brother Louis Bonaparte in 1802). Joséphine and Alexandre's marriage was not a
happy one. Alexandre abandoned his family for over a year to live with a mistress
and frequented brothels, leading to a court-ordered separation during which
Joséphine and the children lived at Alexandre's expense in the Pentemont Abbey.

During the Reign of Terror

On 2 March 1794, during the Reign of Terror, the Committee of Public Safety ordered
the arrest of her husband. He was jailed in the Carmes prison in Paris. Considering
Joséphine as too close to the counter-revolutionary financial circles, the
Committee ordered her arrest on 18 April 1794. A warrant of arrest was issued
against her on 21 April 1794, and she was imprisoned in the Carmes prison until 28
July. During this time, Joséphine was only allowed to communicate with her children
by their scrawls on the laundry list, which the jailers soon prohibited.[5]

Her husband was accused of having poorly defended Mainz in July 1793, and being
considered an aristocratic suspect, was sentenced to death and guillotined with his
cousin Augustin on 23 July 1794, on the Place de la Révolution (today Place de la
Concorde) in Paris. Joséphine was freed five days later, thanks to the fall and
execution of Robespierre, which ended the Reign of Terror. On 27 July 1794 Tallien
arranged the liberation of Thérèse Cabarrus, and soon after that of Joséphine.[5]
In June 1795, a new law allowed her to recover the possessions of Alexandre.
[citation needed]

Marriage to Napoleon
Madame de Beauharnais had affairs with several leading political figures, including
Paul François Jean Nicolas Barras. In 1795, she met Napoleon Bonaparte, six years
her junior, and became his mistress. In a letter to her in December, he wrote, "I
awake full of you. Your image and the memory of last night's intoxicating pleasures
has left no rest to my senses." In January 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte proposed to her
and they were married on 9 March. On the marriage certificate, Joséphine reduced
her age by 4 years and increased Napoleon's by 18 months, making the newly-weds
appear to be roughly the same age.[8] Until meeting Bonaparte, she was known as
Rose, but Bonaparte preferred to call her Joséphine, the name she adopted from then
on.[9]

The marriage was not well received by Napoleon's family, who were shocked that he
had married an older widow with two children. His mother and sisters were
especially resentful of Joséphine, as they felt clumsy and unsophisticated in her
presence.[10] Two days after the wedding, Bonaparte left Paris to lead a French
army into Italy. During their separation, he sent her many love letters. In
February 1797, he wrote: "You to whom nature has given spirit, sweetness, and
beauty, you who alone can move and rule my heart, you who know all too well the
absolute empire you exercise over it!" However, Joséphine rarely wrote back and
when she did, her letters were dry and often tepid.[citation needed] It is known
that Joséphine did not love Napoleon as much as he loved her, and that it took her
years before she warmed to his affections.[citation needed]

Joséphine at Malmaison in 1801 by François Gérard

Joséphine, left behind in Paris, in 1796 began an affair with a handsome Hussar
lieutenant, Hippolyte Charles.[11] Rumors of the affair reached Napoleon; he was
infuriated, and his love for her changed entirely.[12]

In 1798, Napoleon led a French army to Egypt. During this campaign, Napoleon
started an affair of his own with Pauline Fourès, the wife of a junior officer, who
became known as "Napoleon's Cleopatra." The relationship between Joséphine and
Napoleon was never the same after this.[13] His letters became less loving. No
subsequent lovers of Joséphine are recorded, but Napoleon had sexual affairs with
several other women. In 1804, he said, "Power is my mistress."[14]

In December 1800, Joséphine was nearly killed in the Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise,
an attempt on Napoleon's life with a bomb planted in a parked cart. On 24 December,
she and Napoleon went to see a performance of Joseph Haydn's Creation at the Opéra,
accompanied by several friends and family. The party travelled in two carriages.
Joséphine was in the second, with her daughter, Hortense; her pregnant sister-in-
law, Caroline Murat; and General Jean Rapp.[15] Joséphine had delayed the party
while getting a new silk shawl draped correctly, and Napoleon went ahead in the
first carriage.[16] The bomb exploded as her carriage was passing. The bomb killed
several bystanders and one of the carriage horses, and blew out the carriage's
windows; Hortense was struck in the hand by flying glass. There were no other
injuries and the party proceeded to the Opéra.[17]

Empress of the French

The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David (1804)

Empress Josephine in coronation costume in 1807–1808 by François Gérard

Napoleon was elected Emperor of the French in 1804, making Joséphine empress. The
coronation ceremony, officiated by Pope Pius VII, took place at Notre-Dame de
Paris, on December 2. Napoleon first crowned himself, then put the crown on
Joséphine's head, proclaiming her empress. This showed his rejection of the clergy
as the power of Europe.

In her role as empress, Napoleon had a court appointed to her and reinstated the
offices which composed the household of the queen before the French revolution,
with Adélaïde de La Rochefoucauld as Première dame d'honneur, Émilie de Beauharnais
as Dame d'atour, and the wives of his own officials and generals, Jeanne Charlotte
du Lucay, Madame de Rémusat, Elisabeth Baude de Talhouët, Lauriston, d'Arberg,
Marie Antoinette Duchâtel, Sophie de Segur, Séran, Colbert, Savary and Aglaé Louise
Auguié Ney, as Dame de Palais.[5]

Shortly before their coronation, there was an incident at the Château de Saint-
Cloud that nearly sundered the marriage between the two. Joséphine caught Napoleon
in the bedroom of her lady-in-waiting, Élisabeth de Vaudey, and Napoleon threatened
to divorce her as she had not produced an heir. Eventually, however, through the
efforts of her daughter Hortense, the two were reconciled.[18]

The Divorce of the Empress Josephine in 1809 by Henri Frédéric Schopin

When after a few years it became clear she could not have a child, Napoleon, while
still loving Joséphine, began to think about the possibility of an annulment. The
final die was cast when Napoleon's nephew Napoléon Charles Bonaparte, who had been
declared his heir, died of croup in 1807. Napoleon began to create lists of
eligible princesses. At dinner on 30 November 1809, he let Joséphine know that—in
the interest of France—he must find a wife who could produce an heir. Joséphine
agreed to the divorce so the Emperor could remarry in the hope of having an heir.
The divorce ceremony took place on 10 January 1810 and was a grand but solemn
social occasion, and each read a statement of devotion to the other.[19]

On 11 March, Napoleon married Marie-Louise of Austria by proxy;[20] the formal

ceremony took place at the Louvre in April.[21] Napoleon once remarked that despite
her quick infatuation with him, "It is a womb that I am marrying".[22] Even after
their separation, Napoleon insisted Joséphine retain the title of empress. "It is
my will that she retain the rank and title of empress, and especially that she
never doubt my sentiments, and that she ever hold me as her best and dearest
friend."[citation needed]

Later life and death

Portrait of Joséphine later in life by Andrea Appiani

Duchess of Navarre
After the divorce, Joséphine lived at the Château de Malmaison, near Paris. She
remained on good terms with Napoleon, who once said that the only thing to come
between them was her debts. (Joséphine remarked privately, "The only thing that
ever came between us was my debts; certainly not his manhood."—Andrew Roberts,
Napoleon.) In April 1810, by letters patent, Napoleon created her Duchess of
Navarre. Some claim Napoleon and Joséphine were still secretly in love, though it
is impossible to verify this.[23]

In March 1811, Marie Louise was delivered of a long-awaited heir, Napoleon II, to
whom Napoleon gave the title "King of Rome". Two years later Napoleon arranged for
Joséphine to meet the young prince "who had cost her so many tears".

Château de Malmaison near Paris

Death
Joséphine died of pneumonia in Rueil-Malmaison on 29 May 1814, soon after walking
with Emperor Alexander I of Russia in the gardens of Malmaison, where she allegedly
begged to join Napoleon in exile. She was buried in the nearby church of Saint
Pierre-Saint Paul[24] in Rueil. Her daughter Hortense is interred near her.

Napoleon learned of her death via a French journal while in exile on Elba, and
stayed locked in his room for two days, refusing to see anyone. He claimed to a
friend, while in exile on Saint Helena, that "I truly loved my Joséphine, but I did
not respect her."[25] Despite numerous affairs, eventual marriage annulment, and
his remarriage, the Emperor's last words on his death bed at St. Helena were:
"France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Joséphine."("France, l'armée, tête
d'armée, Joséphine").[26]

Descendants

Joséphine's eldest granddaughter, Joséphine, Queen consort of Sweden and Norway.

Portrait by Axel Nordgren
Hortense's son, Napoleon III, became Emperor of the French. Eugène's son Maximilian
de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg married into the Russian Imperial family,
was granted the style of Imperial Highness and founded the Russian line of the
Beauharnais family, while Eugene's daughter Joséphine married King Oscar I of
Sweden, the son of Napoleon's one-time fiancée, Désirée Clary. Through her,
Joséphine is a direct ancestor of the present heads of the royal houses of Belgium,
Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden and of the grandducal house of Baden.
[citation needed]
A number of jewels worn by modern-day royals are often said to have been worn by
Joséphine. Through the Leuchtenberg inheritance, the Norwegian royal family
possesses an emerald and diamond parure said to have been Joséphine's.[citation
needed] The Swedish royal family owns several pieces of jewelry frequently linked
to Joséphine, including the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure,[citation needed] a suite
of amethyst jewels,[citation needed] and the Cameo Parure, worn by Sweden's royal
brides.[citation needed] However, a number of these jewels were probably never a
part of Joséphine's collection at all, but instead belonged to other members of her
family.[citation needed]

Another of Eugène's daughters, Amélie of Leuchtenberg, married Emperor Pedro I of

Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, and became Empress of Brazil, and they had one surviving
daughter, Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil, who was briefly engaged to Archduke
Maximilian of Austria, before he became Maximilian I of Mexico, before her early
death.[citation needed]

Personality and appearance

Josephine in 1805 by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon

Her biographer Carolly Erickson wrote, "In choosing her lovers [Joséphine] followed
her head first, then her heart",[7] meaning that she was adept in terms of
identifying the men who were most capable of fulfilling her financial and social
needs. She was not unaware of Napoleon's potential. Joséphine was a renowned
spendthrift and Barras may have encouraged the relationship with Général Bonaparte
in order to get her off his hands. Joséphine was naturally full of kindness,
generosity and charm, and was praised as an engaging hostess.

Joséphine was described as being of average height, svelte, shapely, with silky,
long, chestnut-brown hair, hazel eyes, and a rather sallow complexion. Her nose was
small and straight, and her mouth was well-formed; however she kept it closed most
of the time so as not to reveal her bad teeth.[27] She was praised for her
elegance, style, and low, "silvery", beautifully modulated voice.[28]

Patroness of roses

'Souvenir de la Malmaison'
In 1799 while Napoleon was in Egypt, Josephine purchased the Chateau de Malmaison.
[29] She had it landscaped in an English style, hiring landscapers and
horticulturalists from the United Kingdom. These included Thomas Blaikie, a
Scottish horticultural expert, another Scottish gardener, Alexander Howatson, the
botanist, Ventenat, and the horticulturist, Andre Dupont. The rose garden was begun
soon after purchase; inspired by Dupont's love of roses. Josephine took a personal
interest in the gardens and the roses, and learned a great deal about botany and
horticulture from her staff. Josephine wanted to collect all known roses so
Napoleon ordered his warship commanders to search all seized vessels for plants to
be forwarded to Malmaison.

Pierre-Joseph Redouté was commissioned by her to paint the flowers from her
gardens. Les Roses was published 1817–20 with 168 plates of roses; 75–80 of the
roses grew at Malmaison. The English nurseryman Kennedy was a major supplier,
despite England and France being at war, his shipments were allowed to cross
blockades. Specifically, when Hume's Blush Tea-Scented China was imported to
England from China, the British and French Admiralties made arrangements in 1810
for specimens to cross naval blockades for Josephine's garden.[30] Sir Joseph
Banks, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, also sent her roses.

The general assumption is that she had about 250 roses in her garden when she died
in 1814. Unfortunately the roses were not catalogued during her tenure. There may
have been only 197 rose varieties in existence in 1814, according to calculations
by Jules Gravereaux of Roseraie de l’Haye. There were 12 species, about 40
centifolias, mosses and damasks, 20 Bengals, and about 100 gallicas. The botanist
Claude Antoine Thory, who wrote the descriptions for Redouté's paintings in Les
Roses, noted that Josephine's Bengal rose R. indica had black spots on it.[31] She
produced the first written history of the cultivation of roses, and is believed to
have hosted the first rose exhibition, in 1810.[32]

Rosa Joséphine de Beauharnais

Modern hybridization of roses through artificial, controlled pollination began with
Josephine's horticulturalist Andre Dupont.[29] Prior to this, most new rose
cultivars were spontaneous mutations or accidental, bee-induced hybrids, and
appeared rarely. With controlled pollination, the appearance of new cultivars grew
exponentially. Of the roughly 200 types of roses known to Josephine, Dupont had
created 25 while in her employ. Subsequent French hybridizers created over 1000 new
rose cultivars in the 30 years following Josephine's death. In 1910, less than 100
years after her death, there were about 8000 rose types in Gravereaux's garden.
Bechtel also feels that the popularity of roses as garden plants was boosted by
Josephine's patronage. She was a popular ruler and fashionable people copied her.

Brenner and Scanniello call her the "Godmother of modern rosomaniacs" and attribute
her with our modern style of vernacular cultivar names as opposed to Latinized,
pseudo-scientific cultivar names. For instance, R. alba incarnata became "Cuisse de
Nymphe Emue" in her garden. After Josephine's death in 1814 the house was vacant at
times, the garden and house ransacked and vandalised, and the garden's remains were
destroyed in a battle in 1870.

Impératrice Joséphine
Jacques-Louis Descemet dedicated Impératrice Joséphine to her sometime before 1815.
Similarly, Jean-Pierre Vibert dedicated Joséphine Beauharnais in her honor in 1823.
The rose 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' appeared in 1844, 30 years after her death,
named in her honor by a Russian Grand Duke planting one of the first specimens in
the Imperial Garden in St. Petersburg.[31]

Art patronage
Empress Josephine was a great lover of all art. Her great interest in horticulture
is well-known, but she also liked all things artistic. She surrounded herself with
creative people whose work ranged from paintings and sculpture to furniture and the
architecture all around her. Josephine always had an interest in art but it was
with her marriage to her first husband that she would gain more access to art and
artists. Due to her husband's high position in society she was often able to
frequent many influential people's homes and learned from the works that were in
their houses.[1] After marrying Napoleon and becoming Empress she was surrounded by
the works of the time, however Josephine also appreciated the works of old masters.
She was also drawn to artists and styles that were not widely used in her time,
searching for artists that challenged the accepted standards. She visited the Salon
to build relationships with contemporary artists. Josephine became a patron to
several different artists, helping to build their careers though their connection
to her. After buying the Château de Malmaison, Josephine had a blank canvas to
showpiece her art and style and used it to create salons, galleries, a theater and
her famous garden. The Malmaison and Tuileries Palace became centers for Napoleon's
government but was recognized as an important place for the arts in any forms.
Josephine's court became the leading court in Europe for the arts. She became the
first French female royal collector of this scale, leading in the Consular and
Empire Style.[33]

Antoine-Jean Gros, Bonaparte at the Pont d'Arcole, 1796

Paintings
Josephine worked with and sought out the works of many artists throughout her
lifetime. In the area of painters she mainly was a collector of paintings but she
was painted by and worked with several artists such as Jacques-Louis David and
Francois Gerard. However, there was one painter whom Josephine favored and
commissioned more often than others, Antoine-Jean Gros. Gros, upon hearing that
Josephine would be visiting Genoa, worked to get an introduction knowing that the
association with Josephine would help him become more well-known.

Upon meeting with Gros and seeing his work, Josephine asked him to come back to
Milan with her and to live in her residences. Josephine then commissioned him to
create a portrait of her husband, the then General Napoleon. The work took several
sittings between Gros and Napoleon and would be named "General Bonaparte at the
Bridge of Arcole, November 17th,1796." This painting would become a big part of
Napoleon's propaganda and iconography. Gros would go on to paint other portraits of
Napoleon, which always portrayed him as a fierce conqueror, propagating the image
of Napoleon as powerful and unstoppable. Josephine as a supporter and patron of
Gros, aided him in becoming a central conduit for the message that the government
was trying to disseminate about the rule of the Emperor in that time.

Sculpture

Antonio Canova Dancer with Her Hands on her Hips, 1812

Over her lifetime Josephine commissioned four major pieces from the Italian
Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova. The Empress was given a copy of Canova's work
Psyche and Cupid, which was originally promised to Colonel John Campbell, but
because of unforeseen circumstances it was gifted to Josephine. She would
commission Canova to create a sculpture and the result would be Dancer with Hands
on Hips. The work commissioned in 1802 but was not finished until 1812, Josephine
allowed him to create on his own terms, which were based on the classics but with a
more relaxed and joyful appearance. He would create several sculptures based on
dancing. Dancer with Hands on Hips was praised by the art community because it was
not based on any specific ancient sculpture, but with a classical spin, making it a
completely original sculpture.

Josephine would commission Canova again for another sculpture called Paris. The
work's plaster cast was completed in 1807 but the marble statue was not finished
until 1812. arriving in Malmaison in 1813 a year before Josephine's death. The
final sculpture that the Empress would commission was The Three Graces. This work
would not be completed until after Josephine's death in 1816. All four works were
eventually sold to Tsar Alexander of Russia.[34]

Furniture/Design
The architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine essentially became the
decorators for Josephine and Napoleon. Many of Josephine's most well-known
furnishings were created especially for her by Percier and/or Fontaine. The two
architects worked within many of the Empire's residences, creating spaces for the
Empress to feel at home in. Percier and Fontaine had their own unique style and
created pieces for both the Emperor and his Empress, which can be easily identified
as their work, even when they were not stamped as created by Percier or Fontaine.
Percier and Fontaine are known for their use of cheval glass and the use of a
feminine, softer feel for the pieces used in the boudoir of the Empress. These
pieces were unique for the time and appreciated for their creativity. The
architects Percier and Fontaine are connected to the Empire style associated with
the time period.[35]

Arms

Empress of the French

(1804–1809)
Monogram of the Empress of the French
(1804–1809)
Duchess of Navarre
(1810–1814)
In popular culture
Statue
In 1859, French emperor Napoleon III commissioned a statue of Josephine, which was
installed in the La Savane Park in downtown Fort-de-France. In 1991, the statue was
symbolically decapitated and spattered with red paint. The acts of vandalism were
done on the belief that Joséphine had influenced her husband to issue the Law of 20
May 1802, which reinstated slavery in the French colonial empire (including
Martinique).[36] The statue was never repaired by the city administration, and
every year more red paint was added to it.[37] In July 2020, the statue was torn
down and destroyed by rioters in the wake of the George Floyd protests.[38]

Fiction books
Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur (1897). Uncle Bernac.
Fields, Bertram (2015). Destiny: A Novel Of Napoleon & Josephine.
Gulland, Sandra (1995). The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
——— (1998). Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe.
——— (2000). The Last Great Dance on Earth.
Kenyon, F. W. (1952). The Emperor's Lady.
Mossiker, Frances (1965). Napoleon and Josephine.
——— (1971). More Than a Queen: The Story of Josephine Bonaparte.
Pataki, Allison (2020). The Queen's Fortune: Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty
That Outlasted the Empire.
Selinko, Annemarie (1958). Désirée.
Webb, Heather (2013). Becoming Josephine.
Winterson, Jeanette (1987). The Passion.
Parkyn, Stephanie (2019). Josephine's Garden
Television
Napoléon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987) is a miniseries with Napoleon portrayed
by Armand Assante and Josephine by Jacqueline Bisset.
Napoléon (2002) is a historical DVD TV miniseries of Napoleon's life, in which
Josephine features prominently, portrayed by Isabella Rossellini.
In 2015 and 2017, an episode of Horrible Histories called "Naughty Napoleon" and
"Ridiculous Romantics" featured Natalie Walter and Gemma Whelan, portraying
Joséphine de Beauharnais.
Film
Ridley Scott 's upcoming 2023 film Napoleon in which Vanessa Kirby will play
Joséphine. Jodie Comer was originally cast but had to drop out due to scheduling
conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic.[39]
Music
The love song 'Josephine' from The Magnetic Fields' 1991 album Distant Plastic
Trees: "If I were Napoleon, you could be my Josephine ..."
The song 'Josephine' from Frank Turner's 2015 album Positive Songs for Negative
People references Josephine — as well as Josephine Brunsvik — to portray Turner's
wish that he has his own muse to influence him.
The song 'Josephine' from Tori Amos' 1999 partially live album To Venus and Back
references the pop-culture expression, supposedly spoken by Napoleon: "Not tonight,
Josephine".
Fashion
Galliano said that his inspiration was dressing the pregnant rock star Madonna —
and then thinking "Empress Josephine."[40]
See also
Biography portal
Aimée du Buc de Rivéry
Jean Chanorier
Notre Dame de Paris
The Swedish Royal Family's jewelry
Tuileries Palace
References
Delorme, Eleanor P. Josephine and the Arts of the Empire. Los Angeles: The J.
PaulGetty museum, 2005, 1.
Branda, Pierre (2016). Josephine: Le Paradoxe du Cygne. Paris: Perrin. p. 9.
"Sights in Trois-Îlets". Lonely Planet.
Knapton, Ernest John (1963). "Chapter 2: Bird of the Islands". Empress Josephine.
New York: Harvard University Press. pp. 15–16, 18, 20, 22–23.
doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674188761. ISBN 978-0674252011. OCLC 1740591.
Andrea Stuart: Josephine: The Rose of Martinique.
Knapton, Ernest John (1963). "Chapter 3: A Marriage is Arranged". Empress
Josephine. New York: Harvard University Press. pp. 26, 29, 30–31.
doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674188761. ISBN 978-0674252011. OCLC 1740591.
Erickson, Carolly (2000). Josephine: A Life of the Empress. New York: St. Martin's
Griffin. p. 82. ISBN 0-312-26346-5.
Stuart, Andrea (2005). The Rose of Martinique: A Life of Napoleon's Josephine.
Grove Press. p. 489. ISBN 978-0802117700.
Williams, Kate (2014). Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine
Bonaparte. New York: Random House.
Epton, Nina (1975). Josephine, the Empress and Her Children. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, Inc., pp. 54, 66–67.
Hippolyte Charles Archived 27 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
Theo Aronson, Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story.
"Madame Pauline Fourès-Napoleon's Cleopatra". Archived from the original on 30 May
2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
"抖音歌曲_抖音排行歌曲_抖音英文音乐_抖音闽南音乐【573 音乐网】". www.emmetlabs.com.
Epton, p. 94.
Epton, pp. 94–95.
Epton, p. 95.
Tschudi, Clara (1900). The great Napoleon's mother. Cornell University Library.
New York, E. P. Dutton.
E. Bruce, Napoleon and Josphine, London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995, pg.445.
"Napoleon: Napoleon and Josephine". PBS. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
Esdaile, Charles (27 October 2009). Napoleon's Wars: An International History.
Penguin. ISBN 9781101464373.
Arnold, James R. (1995). Napoleon Conquers Austria: The 1809 Campaign for Vienna.
Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 194. ISBN 9780275946944.
Recueil général des lois et des arrêts, volume 38, Bureaux de l'Administration du
recueil, 1859, p. 76.
"Empress Josephine's short biography in Napoleon & Empire website, displaying
photographs of the castle of Malmaison and the grave of Josephine". Napoleon-
empire.com. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
Markham, Felix, Napoleon, p. 245.
"Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 123, March 6, 1852 | A Medium of Inter-
communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. | Page
220". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
Epton, Nina (1975). Josephine, The Empress and Her Children. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, Inc. p. 3.
Mossiker, Frances, Napoleon and Josephine, p. 48.
Bechtel, Edwin de Turk. 1949, reprinted 2010. "Our Rose Varieties and their
Malmaison Heritage". The OGR and Shrub Journal, The American Rose Society. 7(3)
Thomas, Graham Stuart (2004). The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book. London, England:
Frances Lincoln Limited. ISBN 0-7112-2397-1.
Brenner, Douglas, and Scanniello, Stephen (2009). A Rose by Any Name. Chapel Hill,
North Carolina: Algonquin Books.
Bowermaster, Russ (1993). "Judging: From Whence to Hence". The American Rose
Annual: 72–73.
 Delorme, Eleanor P. Josephine and the Arts of the Empire. Los Angeles: The J.
PaulGetty museum, 2005, 3–4.
"Empress Josephine's Collection of Sculpture by Canova at Malmaison". Journal of
the History of Collections 16, no. 1 (May 2004): 19–33.
Samoyault, Jean-Pierre. "Furniture and Objects Designed by Percier for the Palace
of Saint-Cloud". The Burlington Magazine 117, no. 868 (1975): 457–65.
Bennett, Steve (4 October 2012). "Beheaded Statue of Empress Josephine: Uncommon
Attraction". Uncommon Caribbean.
"The Headless Empress". Atlas Obscura.
"Anti-Racism Activists Destroy Statue Of Napoleon's First Wife Josephine In
Martinique". NDTV. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
Yossman, K.J. (3 September 2021). "'Killing Eve' Star Jodie Comer Confirmed for
Ridley Scott's 'Kitbag' Opposite Joaquin Phoenix". Variety.
Menkes, Suzy (8 July 1996). "Galliano's Empire Line Shines for Givenchy". The New
York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
Aronson, Theo (1990). Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story. St Martins Pr. ISBN 0-
312-05135-2.
Brent, Harrison. (1946). Pauline Bonaparte, A Woman of Affairs. NY and Toronto
Rinehart.
Bruce, Evangeline. (1995). Napoleon and Josephine: An Improbable Marriage. NY:
Scribner. ISBN 0-02-517810-5
Castelot, André (2009). Josephine. Ishi Press. ISBN 978-4-87187-853-1.
Chevallier, Bernard; Pincemaille, Christophe. Douce et incomparable Joséphine. éd.
Payot & Rivages, coll. «Petite bibliothèque Payot», Paris, 2001. ISBN 2-228-90029-X
Chevallier, Bernard; Pincemaille, Christophe. L'impératrice Joséphine. Presses de
la Renaissance, Paris, 1988., 466 p.,ISBN 978-2-85616-485-3
Delorme, Eleanor P. (2002). Josephine: Napoleon's Incomparable Empress. Harry N.
Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-1229-8
Epton, Nina. (1975). Josephine: the Empress and Her Children. Weidenfeld &
Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-393-07500-7
Erickson, Carolly (1998). Josephine; A Life of the Empress. St. Martin's Press.
ISBN 1-86105-637-0.
Fauveau, Jean-Claude. Joséphine l'impératrice créole. L'esclavage aux Antilles et
la traite pendant la Révolution française. Éditions L'Harmattan 2010. 390 p. ISBN
978-2-296-11293-3.
Knapton, Ernest John. (1963). Empress Josephine Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-
0-671-51346-7
de Montjouven, Philippe. Joséphine: Une impératrice de légendes. Timée-éditions;
2010, 141 p. ISBN 978-2-35401-233-5
Mossiker, Frances (1964). Napoleon and Josephine; the Biography of a Marriage.
Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-00-000000-2.
Schiffer, Liesel. Femmes remarquables au XIX siècle. Vuibert éd. Vuibert, Paris,
2008, 305 p. ISBN 978-2711744428
Sergeant, Philip (1909). The Empress Josephine, Napoleon's Enchantress. NY:
Hutchinson's Library of Standard Lives.
Stuart, Andrea. (2005). The Rose of Martinique: A Life of Napoleon's Josephine.
Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-4202-3
Wagener, Françoise, L'Impératrice Joséphine (1763–1814). Flammarion; Paris, 1999,
504 p.
External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joséphine de Beauharnais.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Joséphine de Beauharnais.

The Heroines of History public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Empress Josephine by Ernest John Knapton. Complete transcription of the 1963
biography.
Joséphine de Beauharnais (de Tascher de la Pagerie) (in French). Site published by
the current members of the family Tascher de la Pagerie.
Château de Malmaison (in French), Joséphine's residence from 1799 to 1814, the site
of her death.
Memoirs of the Empress Josephine (Volume 1) at archive.org
Memoirs of the Empress Josephine (Volume 2) at archive.org
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Tascher de La Pagerie
Born: 23 June 1763 Died: 29 May 1814
Royal titles
Vacant
Monarchy abolished
Title last held by
Marie Antoinette
as Queen consort of the French Empress consort of the French
18 May 1804 – 10 January 1810 Vacant
Title next held by
Marie Louise of Austria
Preceded by
Isabella of Portugal
as consort to the last crowned monarch, 1530 Queen consort of Italy
26 May 1805 – 10 January 1810
French nobility
New title Duchess of Navarre
9 April 1810 – 29 May 1814 Succeeded by
Auguste de Beauharnais
vte
Napoleon
vte
Royal consorts of France
vte
Queens of Italy
vte
Beauharnais
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Imperial House of France of the First French Empire
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French Revolution
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
Categories: Joséphine de Beauharnais1763 births1814 deaths18th-century French
people19th-century French people18th-century French women19th-century French
womenHouse of BonaparteBeauharnaisEmpresses of the FrenchFrench Roman
CatholicsItalian Roman CatholicsQueens consort of ItalyPeople of the First French
EmpireMartiniquais womenDeaths from pneumonia in FranceFrench patrons of the arts
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