Greer Bateman

During the Napoleonic Campaigns of the late 18th and 19th century, the French army looted invaded, Egypt and Italy, for their cultural capital. Many of these looted artifacts would be presented at the Musée Napoleon (Musée du Louvre) which had recently been opened to the public for cultural enrichment and study. Under the management of curator, Dominique Vivant Denon, the Musée Napoleon became the first encyclopedic museum in Western Europe. This paper will discuss how access to such a diverse range of cultural objects informed French artistic production and inspired Bonaparte’s imperial iconography. It will consider the calculated effort to bring back valuable goods to the Musée Napoleon and the influence of their presentation in the public sphere. This is important to examine because it was formative for museum culture and the role of the curator. Through the lens of the Musée Napoleon, the evidence shows the power of material and visual culture on French society, governance, and legacy.