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After Hollywood’s Napoleon exposed the legendary emperor to a new generation, more than 100 relics – which shaped empires, broke hearts and spawned centuries of fascination – are on display in Paris ahead of what experts call one of the most important Napoleonic auctions ever staged.
His battered military hat. A sleeve from his red velvet coat. Even the divorce papers that ended one of history’s most tormented romances – with Josephine, the empress who haunted him to the end.
Two centuries after his downfall, Napoleon remains both revered and controversial in France – but above all, unavoidable. Polls have shown that many admire his vision and achievements, while others condemn his wars and authoritarian rule. Nearly all agree his legacy still shapes the nation.
“These are not just museum pieces. They’re fragments of a life that changed history,” said Louis-Xavier Joseph, Sotheby’s head of European furniture, who helped assemble the trove. “You can literally hold a piece of Napoleon’s world in your hand.”
The exhibition was created by designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, who dressed Lady Gaga and Pope John Paul II.BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images
The auction – aiming to make in excess of €7-million (roughly $11-million) – is a biography in objects. The centrepiece is Napoleon’s iconic bicorne hat, the black felt chapeau he wore in battle – with wings parallel to his shoulders – so soldiers and enemies could spot him instantly through the gunpowder haze.
“Put a bicorne on a table, and people think of Napoleon immediately,” Mr. Joseph said. “It’s like the laurel crown of Julius Caesar.”
The centerpiece of the auction the iconic bicorne hat Napoleon wore in battle. It allowed soldiers and enemies spot him instantly through the gunpowder haze.Christophe Ena/The Associated Press
The hat is estimated to sell for more than half a million dollars.
For all the pageantry – throne, swords, the Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honor – the auction’s true power comes from its intimacy. It includes the handwritten codicil of Napoleon’s final will, composed in paranoia and illness on St. Helena.
There is the heartbreakingly personal: the red portfolio that once contained his divorce decree from Josephine, the religious marriage certificate that formalized their love and a dressing table designed for the empress. Her famed mirror reflects the ambition and tragedy of their alliance.
“Napoleon was a great lover; his letters that he wrote are full of fervour, of love, of passion,” Mr. Joseph said. “It was also a man who paid attention to his image. Maybe one of the first to be so careful of his image, both public and private.”
Napoleon was one of the first people to pay careful attention to both his public and private image, according to Louis-Xavier Joseph, Sotheby’s head of European furniture.Christophe Ena/The Associated Press
The auction’s timing is cinematic. The 2023 biopic grossed more than US$220-million worldwide and reanimated Napoleon’s myth for a TikTok generation hungry for stories of ambition, downfall and doomed romance.
The auction preview is open to the public, running through June 24, with the auction set for June 25.
Not far from the Arc de Triomphe monument dedicated to the general’s victories, Djamal Oussedik, 22, shrugged: “Everyone grows up with Napoleon, for better or worse. Some people admire him, others blame him for everything. But to see his hat and his bed, you remember he was a real man, not just a legend.”
“You can’t escape him, even if you wanted to. He’s part of being French,” said teacher Laure Mallet, 51.
Castelbajac says his ancestor fought in Napoleon’s Russian campaign.BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images
The exhibition is a spectacle crafted by celebrity designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, famed for dressing Lady Gaga and Pope John Paul II.
“I wanted to electrify history,” Mr. Castelbajac said. “This isn’t a mausoleum, it’s a pop-culture installation. Today’s collectors buy a Napoleon artifact the way they’d buy a guitar from Jimi Hendrix. They want a cabinet of curiosities.”
He’s filled the show with fog, hypnotic music and immersive rooms. One is inspired by the camouflage colours of Fontainebleau. Another is anchored by Napoleon’s legendary folding bed. “I create the fog in the entrance of the Sotheby’s building because the elements of nature were an accomplice to Napoleon’s strategy,” the designer said.
Mr. Castelbajac, who said his ancestor fought in Napoleon’s Russian campaign, brought a personal touch. “I covered the emperor’s bed in original canvas. You can feel he was just alone, facing all he had built. There’s a ghostly presence.”
He even created something Napoleon only dreamed of. “Napoleon always wanted a green flag instead of the blue, white, red Tricolour of the revolution,” he said, smiling. “He never got one. So I made it for Sotheby’s.”
