FINDING NAPOLEON IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Napoleon: The Imperial Household Exhibit at the VMFA

A fabulous exhibit of art and artifacts from Napoleon Bonaparte’s various households has been visiting the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It’s moving on to Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (October 19, 2018 – March 3, 2019) and then to the Chateau de Fontainbleau (April 3, 2019 – July 15, 2019). The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, which has an outstanding Napoleonic collection, curated and contributed to the exhibit.

Not surprisingly (considering my travels and interests), my favorite pieces come from Napoleon Bonaparte’s time in exile on St Helena Island.

I was thrilled to see the painting (below) of Longwood House, Napoleon’s long-time residence on St Helena. It’s a gouache (opaque watercolor) attributed to Louis-Joseph Marchand (1791 – 1876), who’s one of my favorite characters from Napoleon’s exile. Marchand held the title of first valet to the Emperor, but he was more than that. He was a trusted friend.

Louis-Joseph Marchand, Valet to Napoleon Bonaparte

Marchand’s mother, Marie-Marguerite Broquet Marchand, was one of three nurses to Napoleon’s toddler son, the Eaglet. At nineteen, her son Louis-Joseph, joined the imperial household as a servant. But, by then, it was 1811 and Napoleon’s star was in decline. In 1814, as Emperor Napoleon faced his first abdication, Empress Marie Louise fled to Austria, taking the Eaglet. Madame Marchand, whom the little boy called his “Chan-chan,” went with them.

Meanwhile, Louis-Joseph accompanied the Emperor into his first exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba. Ten months later, he was at his Emperor’s side during Napoleon’s “Hundred Days” escape to France, which culminated in the Battle of Waterloo. After that defeat, Marchand volunteered to travel with Napoleon into exile on the South Atlantic island of St Helena. He was among a handful of loyalists who stayed for the entire six-year exile.

While he wasn’t one of Napoleon’s intellectual or military friends, the two men were close emotionally. Marchand ministered to his Emperor’s comfort, refrained from petty court politics and guarded Napoleon’s privacy. Napoleon made him an executor of his Last Will and Testament, raising his valet to the level of Generals Bertrand and Montholon. Present at Napoleon’s death, Marchand reputedly stopped the hands of the mantelpiece clock at ten minutes to six, the moment Napoleon Bonaparte died.

In a final service to his imperial master, Marchand traveled again to St Helena in 1840. There, he presided over the exhumation of Napoleon’s body and its return to France. He was an honored guest for Napoleon’s reburial in state at Les Invalides in Paris on December 15, 1840.