By Odile Nouvel-Kammerer et al
Published in 2007 by the AFA in association with Harry N. Abrams, New York Inc. and Les Arts Décoratifs
352 pages, over 300 color illus., 11 3/4 x 9 1/2 in.
Paper • ISBN 978-1-885444-34-9 • $50.00 (AFA)
Cloth • ISBN 0-8109-9295-7• $75.00 (Harry N. Abrams)

Surveying the grandeur and opulence of the Empire style—championed by Napoleon Bonaparte during his rule as emperor of France—this major exhibition catalogue includes more than 300 illustrations of objects drawn from the remarkable holdings of the Musée des Arts décoratifs-Paris and from prominent public and private collections in France.

With guest essays by scholars in the field and individual entries on each work, the roots of the Empire style are traced to the late eighteenth century, when the classical vocabulary of Rome, as well as the archaeological discoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum, captured the imaginations of a group of highly influential individuals. These include the painter Jacques-Louis David; the furniture maker Georges Jacob, who furnished David’s studio; and, most of all, the architects Charles Percier and Pierre-François Léonard Fontaine, who renovated Malmaison, the private country residence of Napoleon and Josephine.

Symbols of Power includes examples of the public and the private manifestations of the Empire style. With furniture and decorative objects commissioned by the state (including works associated with Napoleon), this handsome catalogue conveys the sumptuousness of the Empire style. It investigates the unusual combination of luxurious materials with austere forms that typify this style and signaled a clean break from the preceding stylistic delirium of the Rococo. Among the rich diversity of objects presented are furniture, textiles, clothing, jewelry, bronzes, silverware, porcelain, architectural studies, scenic wallpapers, and statues of Napoleon and Josephine. Odile Nouvel-Kammerer, Curator of Nineteenth-Century Art at the Musée des Arts décoratifs-Paris is guest curator and lead essayist.