Marie-Louise, Empress of French

Marie-Louise de Habsburg-Lorraine was born on 12 December, 1791, in Vienna. Her parents, Francis II, who succeeded his father, Leopold II, as Holy Roman Emperor on 1 March, 1792, and Maria Theresa of Naples were both related to Marie-Antoinette. Raised by her various governesses, she had a bourgeois but happy upbringing despite the difficulties imposed upon her after her family’s exile in 1805. This experience developed into a distinct aversion to France and a loathing of the one known as the “Corsican ogre”. Upon her marriage to Napoleon I, Marie-Louise became Empress, which she would remain for four years. Napoleon did not have to wait long for an heir: on 20 March, 1811, after a long and difficult labour, Marie-Louise gave birth to a son, who received the title of Roi de Rome. Nicknamed “the eaglet”, he was conferred to Madame de Montesquiou, who would become his governess. Marie-Louise’s life was governed by ceremony and etiquette. Josephine’s chambers in every one of the imperial palaces were refurbished for her, and strict protocol imprisoned the young lady in a golden cage. She fulfilled her representative role with diligence and conducted herself with dignity.

Marie Guillemine Benoist (1768-1826) was a French neoclassical painter who gained recognition for her portraits of wealthy and influential individuals during the Napoleonic era. She was born in Paris and received her artistic education from Jacques-Louis David, one of the leading neoclassical painters of the time. Benoist was known for her ability to capture the elegance and refinement of her subjects, particularly women, in her paintings. Her most famous work is the portrait of a black woman, titled Portrait d'une négresse (Portrait of a Black Woman), which was exhibited at the Salon of 1800 and caused a sensation due to its depiction of a black woman as an equal and dignified subject. Benoist's career was cut short by her marriage to a government official, which required her to give up painting professionally.

image_search Find relevant images and pages