NAPOLEON AT FONTAINBLEAU Château de Fontainebleau From 14 September 2021 to 03 January 2022 To mark the bicentenary of Napoleon I s death, the public establishment of the Château de Fontainebleau, in collaboration with the Rmn Grand Palais, presented a major exhibition, exploring the palace under the First Empire. The result of a lengthy research project, this exhibition aimed to highlight the Emperor s work at Fontainebleau. Napoleon demonstrated his fondness for Fontainebleau through the numerous times he stayed there, hosting many political and family events. Keen to restore the palace s importance among the imperial residences, he had it restored, at great expense, under the stewardship of the architects Percier and Fontaine. During his reign, the roofs were rebuilt, the interior decorations restored, the apartments refurnished, the theatre renovated and the gardens

brought in line with the tastes of the time. Curated by Jean Vittet, Chief Heritage Curator at the Château de Fontainebleau, the exhibition explores themes as varied as architecture, painting, sculpture, gardens, decorative arts and libraries, while also illustrating the great story and bringing Napoleon s Fontainebleau back to life, by bringing together a group of some 150 works, including paintings, drawings, furniture, objets d art, porcelain and jewellery, taken from the château s collections or borrowed from ones in France and beyond, public and private.

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