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Napoleon 1 Memorial and His Brothers à Ajaccio en Corse-du-sud

Corse-du-sud

Napoleon 1 Memorial and His Brothers


    20000 Ajaccio
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Monument commémoratif Napoléon 1er et ses frères
Crédit photo : Isiwal - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Antiquité
Haut Moyen Âge
Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
0
100
1800
1900
2000
28-29 août 1869
Imperial visit
14 septembre 1860
Project validation
15 mai 1865
Official Inauguration
1969
Movement of exhedrons
22 juin 2017
Historical Monument
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

In total, the Napoleon Memorial and its Brothers consist of a statuary group of five bronze statues (Napoleon I on horseback, Lucien, Louis, Jérôme, Joseph), its pedestal, bronze reliefs that adorn it, all the other elements of the composition in place located Place De Gaulle, or displaced constitutive of the monument, including semicircular granite benches and marble bas-reliefs located Place du Casone and Place d'Austerlitz, not cadastralized: inscription by decree of 22 June 2017

Key figures

Napoléon III - Emperor and sponsor Finance and supervision of the project until its completion.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc - Architect and designer Directs the implementation and prepares the official report.
Prince Napoléon Jérôme - Initiator of subscriptions Organizes funding through voluntary donations.
Impératrice Eugénie - Visitor in 1869 Commemore Napoleon I with his son.

Origin and history

The Napoleon I memorial and its brothers, located in Place De Gaulle in Ajaccio, was inaugurated on 15 May 1865 under the impulse of Napoleon III. Designed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, it consists of a pink granite base of the Appietto (Corse) supporting five bronze statues: Napoleon I on horseback, and his brothers Joseph, Lucien, Louis and Jerome on foot. Two granite exhedrons, decorated with Victoires in white marble, originally framed the monument. These annexes were moved in 1969 to the square of Austerlitz (ex-place du Casone), where they are now serving as reposes.

The project, financed by voluntary subscriptions and supervised by Prince Napoleon Jerome, received the personal attention of Napoleon III, who validated the budget and the choice of artists during his visit to Ajaccio in September 1860. Viollet-le-Duc, in his Report of 1865, details the symbolism of the monument: the costumes of the characters, its orientation towards the sea, and the administrative challenges encountered (negotiations with the army and the clergy for settlement). Empress Eugénie and the Imperial Prince visited the site in August 1869 during the commemorations of the birth of Napoleon I.

Ranked as a Historic Monument in 2017, the set now includes original elements (statues, pedestals, bronze reliefs) as well as semicircular benches and marble bas-reliefs moved. The base, 3.30 metres high, bears the inscription: "In memory of Napoleon I and his four brothers: Joseph, Lucien, Louis, Jerome, the grateful Corsica during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III". This monument illustrates the desire to celebrate the Bonaparte dynasty in its Corsican cradle, under the Second Empire.

External links