Napoleon III

Description Cabanel enjoyed a rapid rise to fame, winning a first-class medal and being appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1855. He also became a professor of painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1863. This painting replicates a once-lost official portrait commissioned in 1865 for the apartments of Empress Eugénie in the Tuileries Palace. Scoffing critics of Napoleon III's regime dismissed the original work as "a portrait of a hotel manager." In 2009, the full-length portrait was rediscovered in storage at the chateau of Compiegne.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
7/12/1978	Examination	examined for loan
5/04/1979	Loan Consideration	{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Arial;}}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\fs20 examined for loan\par}
9/06/1979	Examination	examined for condition
10/19/2009	Loan Consideration	{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Arial;}}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\fs20 examined for loan\par}
7/06/2010	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• The Second Empire 1852-1870: Art in France under Napoleon III. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit. 1978-1979.
• Before Monet: Landscape Painting in France and Impressionist Masters: Highlights from The Walters Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1998.
• A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. 2002-2004.
• Alexandre Cabanel, la tradition du beau. Musee Fabre, Montpellier; Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Köln. 2010-2011.
• Boldini and his Circle. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2018-2021.

Provenance William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1887-1893 (?), by purchase [perhaps the Cabanel "sketch" purchased by G. A. Lucas at Chevalier's, May 27-28, 1889]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Signature] In lower left in black cursive lettering: Ale Cabanel; [Signature] In lower right in brown block letters: Al. Cabanel

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, 1887-1893