Note publique d'information : Napoleon's Plunder' tells the remarkable story of Bonaparte's obsessive accrual of
the spoils of war - his hoarding of art, artefacts and treasures from across the world,
ostensibly taken for the French nation, but also very much for his own personal aggrandisement.
For as his conquering army cut a swathe through Europe and North Africa, Napoleon
demanded of his defeated enemies their most valuable statues and paintings. And the
Emperor wanted nothing but the best, directly targeting the most magnificent works
of the High Renaissance - the sculptures of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, the
paintings of Raphael, Titian and Veronese. This unrivalled haul was placed on display
in in the Louvre, the former palace of the French kings which Napoleon transformed
into the greatest museum in the world - a museum that professedly belonged to the
French people, but which was, too, a monument to Napoleon's power. In a wonderful
narrative voice, Cynthia Saltzman interweaves the stories of Napoleon's military campaigns,
uncovering the intricate negotiations through which he obtained his loot, with the
histories of the plundered works themselves, exploring how these great masterpieces
came into being. As much as a story of military might, this is an account of one of
the most ambitious cultural projects ever conducted. The author ends with a reflection
on the nature of art collecting in the past and the controversy surrounding the provenance
of art today.
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