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Author Driskel, Michael Paul.

Title As befits a legend : building a tomb for Napoleon, 1840-1861 / Michael Paul Driskel
Published Kent, Ohio : Kent State University Press, [1993]
©1993

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 WATERFT ART&ARCH  726.80944361 Viscon Dri/Aba  AVAILABLE
Description xviii, 251 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Contents 1. The Monument and Its Architect -- 2. Politics of Representation and Location -- 3. The "Contest" -- 4. The Process -- 5. Authorship, Meaning, and Method
Summary As Befits a Legend bridges the disciplines of history and art history and will appeal to historians of architecture, sculpture, society, and culture, as well as those readers fascinated with the history and legend of Napoleon. Nearly 100 photographs of 19th-century statuary, drawings, and lithographs complement the text
Louis-Tullis Visconti, a major Parisian architect who was officially commissioned for the project, is the subject of intensive scrutiny to determine the nature of his personal contribution to the design, as well as his relationship with the many sculptors involved in the collective construction process. Here Driskel offers a significant contribution to the sociology of architecture and to the question of what "authorship" means in an undertaking of this kind
Michael Paul Driskel's study, based on extensive archival research in France, documents the problems inherent in building the appropriate monument for such a controversial figure and the public debate it generated. Following a detailed and illuminating account of the range of proposals put forward, Driskel concludes that the form of the structure represents a symbolic mediation of conflicting demands
One of the most important funerary monuments in Europe is the tomb of Napoleon, built in the Church of the Invalides in Paris between 1840 and 1861. As Befits a Legend is the first comprehensive examination of its construction process, historical context, and political and social meanings. It is also the only work published in English about this unique structure
Analysis Paris (France)
Tombs
Paris (France)
Tombs
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 244-247) and index
Subject Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Tomb.
Napoleon, Emperor of the French I, 1769-1821 -- Tomb
Visconti, Louis, 1791-1853 -- Criticism and interpretation.
Dôme des Invalides (Paris, France)
Art and state -- France -- History -- 19th century.
Neoclassicism (Architecture) -- France -- Paris.
Public opinion -- France.
Sepulchral monuments -- France -- Public opinion.
SUBJECT Paris (France) -- Buildings, structures, etc. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008116525
LC no. 93012099
ISBN 0873384849
Other Titles Building a tomb for Napoleon, 1840-1861