On May 15, 1796, the French army commanded by General Napoleon Bonaparte enter Milan. Between ups and downs (with the Austrian interregnum of 1799-1800) the Corsican general will shape the fate of the city until 1814, the date of his abdication. In the space of just twenty years, Napoleon influenced Milan with an intensity and fervor never seen before. Arrived as a liberator in 1796, charged with the ideals of the Revolution, he later transformed himself into emperor, disappointing with this turning point the many who had seen in him the promoter of the diffusion of republican principles in Lombardy but also consolidating - through his power - good governance , the structures and the administration of the city.
Art and the construction of the image of himself have been central aspects of his presence in Milan, during which the relevance and attention to painting, architecture and urban planning have been a constant element. Without any exaggeration, it can be said that Milan is the city of the Empire where Napoleon's influence was greatest, and where his memory is still perceptible.
Napoleon nurtured a genuine passion for art and had a high regard for the arts and artists, who played a central role in building his myth. Thanks to him, the Pinacoteca di Brera became the national museum which collected the works selected by a special commission and has remained closely linked to Bonaparte over the years, as can be seen from the vast rooms dedicated to him and from the famous bronze statue by Canova which portrays the general as Mars the Peacemaker located in the main courtyard. Proof of Napoleon's sincere passion for art is the meeting that took place the day after his entry into Milan with two highly talented painters, Antoine-Jean Gros and Andrea Appiani; the latter was the greatest figurative interpreter of the Napoleonic age in Italy and the official portrait painter of the emperor. And it is precisely starting from the figure of the great artist Appiani that the Carlo Orsi Gallery has selected 14 works from private collections to celebrate this important anniversary of May 5, the bicentenary of Napoleon's death. Within the exhibition is presented the Portrait of Alessandro Trivulzio Minister of War (1802 - 1804) of Appiani. The official nature of the pose of the noble general who holds the sword in his hands is belied by the fine introspection of the character and by the exciting landscape in the background rendered through atmospheric vibrations.
Among the exhibited artists is also found Giuseppe Bossi, rival of Appiani, with the Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte (1805) The artist had ventured into Napoleonic iconography by representing Bonaparte as a divinity or an ancient ruler dressed in purple in the famous painting with which he had won the Concorso della Riconoscenza in 1802. The work is now in the Brera Academy.
To complete the section dedicated to the portraits of the "fatal man” there are another work by Giuseppe Bossi Portrait of Napoleon Leaning on the Globe, the wonderful Bust of Napoleon made in marble by Lorenzo Bartolini and the Equestrian statuette of Napoleon Bonaparte by Giacomo Raffaelli. The exhibition continues with a section of works depicting officials and the Napoleonic court among which we mention the series of miniatures by Giambattista Gigola on ivory, and the places and views of the time. To close the itinerary of the exhibition – and to bear witness to the persistence of the Napoleonic myth in the decades following his death – is the work of Francesco Hayez Napoleon distributes decorations after the battle of Wagram. Painting commissioned in 1831 by Count Carlo Cicogna, baron of the Italian Kingdom and field aide to the Viceroy Eugene de Beauharnais, who had been awarded the Legion of Honor at the age of 25 for his valor in battle.
