Napoleonic Museum - Primoli Palace
(
Museo Napoleonico - Palazzo Primoli )
The
first nucleus of the works of the Museo
Napoleonico originated from the generous bequest
of count Giuseppe Primoli (18511927).
He
had decided that upon his death, his collection
of Napoleonic curios and the ground floor
of his palace, where they were to be
displayed, would be donated to the City of Rome.
He
was a descendant of the Bonaparte family on
his mother's side.
He
lived in France from 1853 to 1870, after he
graduated from law school, the count expanded his
cultural knowledge in the intellectual parlous of
his aunt Matilde Bonaparte and Giulia di
Roccagiovine, where he came into contact with
literary men and artists such as Mallarme, Flaubert
and Maupassant; in this Parisian milieu he
developed a taste for sophisticated literary
essays and, for all his life, cherished a his
memories of the years he had spent in Paris, Once he
returned to Rome, the count felt the
need to come into contact with prominent figures
from the Italian cultural scene by becoming
acquainted with D'Annunzio, Boito, Giocosa and
Matilde Serao.
Throughout his life, the count always maintained a
strong tie with the Bonaparte family and, at
first, he had decided to write of its secret
history, by gathering a considerable amount of
documents both from oral tradition and archives;
later, however, he devoted himself to creating the
collection that forms the original nucleus of the
museum and that privileges the private aspects
of the family, leaving its historical and political
vicissitudes in the background.
The museum tour unwinds through 13 rooms
which document three very distinct historical
moments: the Napoleonic heroic deeds, the
so-called "Roman" period which illustrates
the adventures of the family from the fall of
Napoleon to the accession of Napoleon III
and the period of the second empire
(1852-187°).
The objects collected range from paintings to
sculptures, from furniture to objects
of everyday use, from albums of memoirs to
snuffboxes, from clothes to jewels,
from books to drawings, in an ensemble
of considerable appeal, where every object proves to
be interesting both as evidence of art and a
taste of the time, and as the fragment of an
organized family history. Another purpose of
the collection is to document in detail the
relations that bound the Bonaparte family to the
city of Rome where most of the emperor's family
lived, his mother Letizia Ramolino, his sister
Paolina, who married the Prince Camillo Borghese,
and his brothers Luigi, Girolamo and Luciano.
The
latter gave origin to the Roma n branch of
the family whose descendants married the children of
noble Roman families (Gabrielli, Del Gallo,
Campello, Ruspoli, Primoli). Among the numerous
portraits of different members of the family,
there are those which represent Letizia Ramolino in
imperial dress, Elisa Bonaparte with her daughter,
Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenia.
The furniture of the first room comes from
the Napoleonic residence of St. Cloud,
while the numerous items of court attire are come
from the donations made by noble Roman families.
Information and Addresses
Address Piazza di Ponte Umberto 1,1
Visiting Hours Every day from 9.00 am to 7-00
pm; Dec. 24 and 31 from 9.00 am to 2.00 pm
Closed Monday, Dec. 25, Jan. 1, May 1 Telephone 06
82059127; Fax 06 68809114; Price € 3,00; concessions
€ 1,50
For
Tours information
– private guided tours – special entrances, no waiting in
line - VIP services
www.tourinrome.com
www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com
www.vaticanmuseumticket.com
