Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

THE EMPIRE, 1804–15
The Empire was synonymous with prosperity and splendour,
and its style mirrored this image. A visual translation of
Napoleonic power, the Empire style, official and ceremonious,
was orchestrated by the irreplaceable Percier and Fontaine, the
regime’s two great architect designers. In interiors conceived as
total works of art, they invented grandiose theatrical displays, stage
settings for power that reached a pinnacle in their throne rooms.
Maintaining continuity with the styles that preceded it – Louis XVI,
Directory and Consular – Empire style gradually made its own mark
by adopting more majestic forms synonymous with Imperial dignity.
After the fluid grace and elegance of the Consular style, lines grew
more taut, volumes became more geometrical and massive, and
the overall effect tended to be heavier and more richly ostentatious.
Furnishings became highly architectural, sporting columns,
pilasters and capitals. Exotic materials and expensive woods
(especially mahogany) were combined with gilt bronze.
Reflecting the type of military hero embodied by Napoleon, the
Empire style was decidedly masculine. The traditional imagery
of warriors, military trophies, shields, glaives (broadswords)
and helmets was now supplemented by new ornamental motifs
inspired by ancient Rome. Weighty garlands, cornucopias and
chariots joined with a repertoire of triumphal symbols: palms, laurel
wreaths and figures personifying fame and victory. Alongside the
Imperial bestiary of eagles, bees, swans and butterflies, were
added the new motifs of winged thunderbolts, the letter N, and the
star. Allegories of love, Dionysian themes and female figures,
as well as mythological goddesses, caryatids and nymphs,
softened this heroic severity.
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