Portrait de Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte en Prince-Président

1852
Not on view
Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (1808–1873) was a nephew of Napoleon I and the most direct Bonapartist heir by the mid-nineteenth century. After the Revolution of 1848 and the abdication of King Louis-Philippe, he returned to France from exile in England and won an overwhelming election as president of the Second Republic. On December 2, 1851, in the third year of the single four-year presidential term allowed by the constitution, he staged a coup d'état, dissolved the legislative assembly, decreed a new constitution, and assumed dictatorial powers, a move that was subsequently approved by a public referendum of dubious legitimacy. A year later, on December 2, 1852, again the anniversary of Napoleon I's coronation as emperor, Louis-Napoleon declared the dissolution of the Republic and the establishment of the Second Empire. He took the title Emperor Napoleon III.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait de Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte en Prince-Président
  • Artist: Gustave Le Gray (French, 1820–1884)
  • Date: 1852
  • Medium: Albumen silver print from paper negative
  • Dimensions: Image: 20.2 x 14.7 cm (7 15/16 x 5 13/16 in.)
    Mount: 48.1 x 38.6 cm (18 15/16 x 15 3/16 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
  • Object Number: 2005.100.850
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

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