ARC 634: The Architecture of Revolutions Professor Jean-François Bedard How Napoleon Bonaparte Used Architecture to Enhance His Political Regime in Europe James Marsh INTRODUCTION
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE is a revered figure of French history known for his military leadership and charismatic political guidance. He was named Empeurer des Francais on May 18, 1804, closely following the French Revolution: a time of violence and upheaval from 17891799.1 As the subject of the phrase “Napoleonic Caesarism,” Bonaparte was credited with a “seizure of power at a time of real or alleged national crisis by a leader owing his prestige to real or associated military triumphs.” 2 Napoleon was a man of politics, but he also cleverly used architecture to establish himself in a powerful and memorable manner. He became invested in Roman architecture, for its prestige and ancient power, and Egyptian architecture, after a military campaign in the country exposed him to its massive scale and magnificence, which later his personal architects, Percier and Fontaine, fused into their own distinct style called the Empire Style. There are five main factors to Napoleon’s successful use of architecture during his regime in Europe. Between his magnificent ideas to embellish Paris as the most wondrous city in the world, his monumental designs that refer to antiquity, his commissioned infrastructural projects to combat unemployment and social turmoil, his use of architectural propaganda to cover up military failure, and the overarching tenacity he held to be visually depicted as the greatest ruler
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