Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

154
Baron François GÉRARD (attributed to)
French 1770–1837
Portrait of Queen Hortense
Portrait de la reine Hortense
c. 1806
oil on canvas
Fondation Dosne-Thiers (Institut de France), Paris
Bequest of Frédéric Masson, 1923 inv. 0933/T.53
Born in 1783, Hortense de Beauharnais
was the second and youngest child
of Josephine and her first husband,
Alexandre de Beauharnais. In 1802,
Josephine arranged for her to marry one
of Napoleon’s brothers, Louis Bonaparte.
Made King and Queen of Holland in 1806
and reigning until 1810, Louis and Hortense
had three sons. Their marriage, however,
was an unhappy one, and the couple
eventually separated.
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