Empire

Empire style is an artistic style created in France at the beginning of the 19th century, in the era of the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. The chronological framework of the original French “Empire Style” is limited to a very short period of time: from the end of the reign of the Directory (1799) or the year of Napoleon’s coronation (1804) to the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty (1815). The main elements of the Empire, gleaned from ancient art, were already contained in the classicism of Louis XVI (Neoclassicism) and were crystallized in the “Directory style”. However, the Empire style is fundamentally different from Classicism. Napoleon sought to shine and aura of glory of the Roman emperors. Continue reading →