Crowd in Front of the Tuileries Palace During the Wedding of Napoleon to Marie-Louise of Austria

Charles Percier French
 Pierre François Léonard Fontaine French

Not on view


When Josephine failed to produce a son and heir, Napoleon divorced her in 1809 and married Marie-Louise of Austria the following year. Percier and Fontaine, renowned architects for Napoleon, produced this drawing to illustrate a book detailing the elaborate celebrations of their wedding. The restoration and renovation of the Tuileries Palace, the setting for the military salute depicted here, was one of the architects’ major projects. The lightly sketched balcony at the center of the drawing is where the emperor and empress appear in the final engraving. The representation of Napoleonic ceremonies was one of the ways the designers and fellow artists such as Jacques Louis David defined the Empire style for the public.

Crowd in Front of the Tuileries Palace During the Wedding of Napoleon to Marie-Louise of Austria, Charles Percier (French, Paris 1764–1838 Paris), Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Crowd in Front of the Tuileries Palace During the Wedding of Napoleon to Marie-Louise of Austria, Charles Percier (French, Paris 1764–1838 Paris), Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk
Crowd in Front of the Tuileries Palace During the Wedding of Napoleon to Marie-Louise of Austria, Charles Percier (French, Paris 1764–1838 Paris), Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.