The Hope of Posterity: The Emperor, Empress, and King of Rome
Medium
Etching with engraving in black on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 33.2 × 42 cm (13 1/8 × 16 9/16 in.); Plate: 41.8 × 48.1 cm (16 1/2 × 18 15/16 in.); Sheet: 42.4 × 49.1 cm (16 3/4 × 19 3/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
82247
Art Historical Context
In the grand tradition of Napoleonic propaganda, Adrien Pierre François Godefroy's *The Hope of Posterity The Emperor, Empress, King of Rome* (1811/12) captures a pivotal moment of imperial ambition. Created during the height of Napoleon's empire, etching depicts the French Emperor Napoleon I, his second wife Empress Marie-Louise, and their infant son, Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte—proclaimed King of Rome at birth in 1811 as a symbol of dynastic continuity. The title evokes the regime's fervent hope for a lasting Bonaparte legacy, amid the lavish celebrations that marked the heir'...