Book description
Celebrated for her looks, notorious for her passions, immortalised by
Antonio Canova's statue and always deeply loyal to her brother, Pauline
Bonaparte Borghese is a fascinating figure.
At the turn of the nineteenth century she was considered by many to be
the most beautiful woman in Europe. She shocked the continent with the
boldness of her love affairs, her opulent wardrobe and jewels and, most
famously, her decision to pose nearly nude for Canova's sculpture, which
has been replicated in countless ways through the years. But just as
remarkable for Pauline's private life was her fidelity to the emperor
(if not to her husbands). She was witness to Napoleon's great victories
in Italy, and she was often with him and her rival for his loyalty, the
Empress Josephine, at Malmaison. When he was exiled to Elba, Pauline was
the only sibling to follow him there, and after Waterloo she begged to
be allowed to join him at Saint Helena.
No biographer has gone so deeply into the sources or so closely
examined one of the seminal relationships of the man who shaped modern
Europe. In Venus of Empire, Flora Fraser casts new light on the
Napoleonic era while crafting a dynamic, vivid portrait of mesmerising
woman. > At the turn of the nineteenth century she was considered
by many to be the most beautiful woman in Europe. She shocked the
continent with the boldness of her love affairs, her opulent wardrobe
and jewels and, most famously, her decision to pose nearly nude for
Canova's sculpture, which has been replicated in countless ways through
the years. But just as remarkable for Pauline's private life was her
fidelity to the emperor (if not to her husbands). She was witness to
Napoleon's great victories in Italy, and she was often with him and her
rival for his loyalty, the Empress Josephine, at Malmaison. When he was
exiled to Elba, Pauline was the only sibling to follow him there, and
after Waterloo she begged to be allowed to join him at Saint Helena.
No biographer has gone so deeply into the sources or so closely
examined one of the seminal relationships of the man who shaped modern
Europe. In Venus of Empire, Flora Fraser casts new light on the
Napoleonic era while crafting a dynamic, vivid portrait of mesmerising
woman.>
