Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon - Volume 06 , livre ebook

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pubOne.info present you this new edition. We arrived in Paris on the 1st of January at nine o'clock in the evening; and as the theater of the palace of the Tuileries was now completed, on the Sunday following his Majesty's return the Griselda of M. Paer was presented in this magnificent hall. Their Majesties' boxes were situated in front of the curtain, opposite each other, and presented a charming picture, with their hangings of crimson silk draped above, and forming a background to broad, movable mirrors, which reflected at will the audience or the play. The Emperor, still impressed with the recollections of the theaters of Italy, criticised unsparingly that of the Tuileries, saying that it was inconvenient, badly planned, and much too large for a palace theater; but notwithstanding all these criticisms, when the day of inauguration came, and the Emperor was convinced of the very great ingenuity M. Fontaine had shown in distributing the boxes so as to make the splendid toilets appear to the utmost advantage, he appeared well satisfied, and charged the Duke of Frioul to present to M

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819949206
Langue	English

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RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON,V6
By CONSTANT
PREMIER VALET DE CHAMBRE
TRANSLATED BY WALTER CLARK
1895
CHAPTER VII.
We arrived in Paris on the 1st of January at nineo'clock in the evening; and as the theater of the palace of theTuileries was now completed, on the Sunday following his Majesty'sreturn the Griselda of M. Paer was presented in this magnificenthall. Their Majesties' boxes were situated in front of the curtain,opposite each other, and presented a charming picture, with theirhangings of crimson silk draped above, and forming a background tobroad, movable mirrors, which reflected at will the audience or theplay. The Emperor, still impressed with the recollections of thetheaters of Italy, criticised unsparingly that of the Tuileries,saying that it was inconvenient, badly planned, and much too largefor a palace theater; but notwithstanding all these criticisms,when the day of inauguration came, and the Emperor was convinced ofthe very great ingenuity M. Fontaine had shown in distributing theboxes so as to make the splendid toilets appear to the utmostadvantage, he appeared well satisfied, and charged the Duke ofFrioul to present to M. Fontaine the congratulations he so welldeserved.
A week after we saw the reverse of the medal. Onthat day Cinna was presented, and a comedy, the name of which Ihave forgotten. It was such extremely cold weather that we wereobliged to leave the theater immediately after the tragedy, inconsequence of which the Emperor exhausted himself in invectivesagainst the hall, which according to him was good for nothing butto be burnt. M. Fontaine [Born at Pontoise, 1762; erectedthe arch of the Carrousel; died 1853] was summoned, andpromised to do everything in his power to remedy the inconveniencespointed out to him; and in fact, by means of new furnaces placedunder the theater, with pipes through the ceiling, and steps placedunder the benches of the second tier of boxes, in a week the hallwas made warm and comfortable.
For several weeks the Emperor occupied himselfalmost exclusively with buildings and improvements. The arch oftriumph of the Place du Carrousel, from which the scaffolding hadbeen removed in order to allow the Imperial Guard to pass beneathit on their return from Prussia, first attracted his Majesty'sattention. This monument was then almost completed, with theexception of a few bas-reliefs which were still to be put inposition. The Emperor took a critical view of it from one of thepalace windows, and said, after knitting his brows two or threetimes, that this mass resembled much more a pavilion than a gate,and that he would have much preferred one constructed in the styleof the porte Saint-Denis.
After visiting in detail the various works begun orcarried on since his departure, his Majesty one morning sent for M.Fontaine, and having discoursed at length on what he thought worthyof praise or blame in all that he had seen, informed him of hisintentions with regard to the plans which the architect hadfurnished for joining the Tuileries to the Louvre. It was agreed bythe Emperor and M. Fontaine that these buildings should be unitedby two wings, the first of which should be finished in five years,a million to be granted each year for this purpose; and that asecond wing should also be constructed on the opposite side,extending from the Louvre to the Tuileries, forming thus a perfectsquare, in the midst of which would be erected an opera house,isolated on all sides, and communicating with the palace by asubterranean gallery.
The gallery forming the court in front of the Louvrewas to be opened to the public in winter, and decorated withstatues, and also with all the shrubbery now in boxes in the gardenof the Tuileries; and in this court he intended to erect an arch oftriumph very similar to that of the Carrousel. Finally, all thesebeautiful buildings were to be used as lodgings for the grandofficers of the crown, as stables, etc. The necessary expense wasestimated as approximating forty-two millions.
The Emperor was occupied in succession with a palaceof arts; with a new building for the Imperial library, to be placedon the spot now occupied by the Bourse; with a palace for thestock-exchange on the quay Desaix; with the restoration of theSorbonne and the hotel Soubise; with a triumphal column at Neuilly;with a fountain on the Place Louis XV. ; with tearing down theHotel-Dieu to enlarge and beautify the Cathedral quarter; and withthe construction of four hospitals at Mont-Parnasse, at Chaillot,at Montmartre, and in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, etc. All theseplans were very grand; and there is no doubt that he who hadconceived them would have executed them; and it has often been saidthat had he lived, Paris would have had no rival in any departmentin the world.
At the same time his Majesty decided definitely onthe form of the arch of triumph de l'Etoile, which had been longdebated, and for which all the architects of the crown hadsubmitted plans. It was M. Fontaine whose opinion prevailed; sinceamong all the plans presented his was the simplest, and at the sametime the most imposing.
The Emperor was also much interested in therestoration of the palace of Versailles. M. Fontaine had submittedto his Majesty a plan for the first repairs, by the terms of which,for the sum of six millions, the Emperor and Empress would have hada comfortable dwelling. His Majesty, who liked everything grand,handsome, superb, but at the same time economical, wrote at thebottom of this estimate the following note, which M. de Baussetreports thus in his Memoirs:—
"The plans in regard to Versailles must be carefullyconsidered. Those which M. Fontaine submits are very reasonable,the estimate being six millions; but this includes dwellings, withthe restoration of the chapel and that of the theater, onlysufficiently comfortable for present use, not such as they shouldbe one day.
"By this plan, the Emperor and Empress would havetheir apartments; but we must remember that this sum should alsofurnish lodgings for princes, grand and inferior officers.
"It is also necessary to know where will be placedthe factory of
arms, which will be needed at Versailles, since itputs silver in
circulation.
"It will be necessary out of these six millions tofind six lodgings for princes, twelve for grand officers, and fiftyfor inferior officers.
“Then only can we decide to make Versailles ourresidence, and pass the summers there. Before adopting these plans,it will be necessary that the architect who engages to execute themshould certify that they can be executed for the proposed sum.”
A few days after their arrival their Majesties, theEmperor and Empress, went to visit the celebrated David
[Jacques Louis David, born in Paris, 1748,celebrated historical painter, member of convention, 1792, andvoted for the death of the king. Died in Brussels, 1825.]
at his studio in the Sorbonne, in order to see themagnificent picture of the coronation, which had just beenfinished. Their Majesties' suite was composed of Marshal Bessieres,an aide-de-camp of the Emperor, M. Lebrun, several ladies of thepalace, and chamberlains. The Emperor and Empress contemplated withadmiration for a long while this beautiful painting, whichcomprised every species of merit; and the painter was in his glorywhile hearing his Majesty name, one by one, all the differentpersonages of the picture, for the resemblance was reallymiraculous. “How grand that is! ” said the Emperor; “how fine! howthe figures are brought out in relief! how truthful! This is not apainting; the figures live in this picture! ” First directing hisattention to the grand tribune in the midst, the Emperor,recognized Madame his mother, General Beaumont, M. de Cosse, M. deLa Ville, Madame de Fontanges, and Madame Soult. “I see in thedistance, ” said he, “good M. Vien. ” M. David replied, “Yes, Sire;I wished to show my admiration for my illustrious master by placinghim in this picture, which, on account of its subject, will be themost famous of my works. ” The Empress then took part in theconversation, and pointed out to the Emperor how happily M. Davidhad seized upon and represented the interesting moment when theEmperor is on the point of being crowned. “Yes, ” said his Majesty,regarding it with a pleasure that he did not seek to disguise, “themoment is well chosen, and the scene perfectly represented; the twofigures are very fine, ” and speaking thus, the Emperor looked atthe Empress.
His Majesty continued the examination of the picturein all its details, and praised especially the group of the Italianclergy near the altar, which episode was invented by the painter.He seemed to wish only that the Pope had been represented in moredirect action, appearing to give his blessing, and that the crownof the Empress had been borne by the cardinal legate. In regard tothis group, Marshal Bessieres made the Emperor laugh heartily, byrelating to him the very amusing discussion which had taken placebetween David and Cardinal Caprara.
It is well known that the artist had a greataversion to dressed figures, especially to those clothed in themodern style. In all his paintings, there may be remarked such apronounced love for the antique that it even shows itself in hismanner of draping living persons. Now, Cardinal Caprara, one of theassistants of the Pope at the ceremony of the coronation, wore awig; and David, in giving him a place in his picture, thought itmore suitable to take off his wig, and represent him with a baldhead, the likeness being otherwise perfect. The Cardinal was muchgrieved, and begged the artist to restore his wig, but receivedfrom David a formal refusal. “Never, ” said he, “will I degrade mypencil so far as to paint a wig. ” His Eminence went away veryangry, and complained to M. de Talleyrand, who was at this timeMinister of Foreign Affairs, giving, among other reasons, this,which seemed to him unanswerable, that, as no Pope had ever worn a