The artistic collection of one of France’s greatest heroines
Joséphine de Beauharnais was famous for being Napoleon Bonaparte’s consort, for her love of luxury and her affairs. However, she assembled collections of horticultural specimens from around the world and an internationally admired art collection at her beloved chateau at Malmaison. A new exhibition at Somerset House in London explores her role as a discerning collector and patron of the arts. It showcases some of the finest paintings, sculptures and decorative objects from her collection, which was moved from the outskirts of Paris to the Hermitage Museum at St Petersburg in the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat by Alexander I of Russia.
Jenni talks to Alexandra Gerstein, curator of the exhibition and to Andrea Stuart, author of a biography The Rose of Martinique, about the life and art collection of the Empress Josephine.
France in Russia: Empress Josephine’s Malmaison Collection runs from 25 July to 4 November 2007
