Today we visited the Borghese Museum. One of the sculptures there seemed very interesting to me. It depicts Pauline Bonaparte in the guise of Venus.
Napoleon Bonaparte had three brothers and three sisters. Out of all of them, Pauline Bonaparte was his favorite.
Pauline garnered fame as the most charming and licentious woman of Paris. She married General Leclerc. That is, at that time he had been an aide-de-camp for three years, in May Napoleon made him a general, and in June Pauline became Leclerc’s wife. Three years later, Leclerc died of yellow fever, and Pauline married Camillo Borghese, a supporter of Napoleon. This 28-year-old Italian, a representative of an ancient aristocratic family, owned two palaces, 40 castles, filled with works of antique and modern art, Roman palazzo, and a collection of rare diamonds. There’s actually an interesting story there, I recommend reading
She was buried in Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, where we also went today. This year, 2022, marks exactly 200 years since her death. Various sources claim that according to her last will, a statue by Canova was placed next to her grave. I cannot find any confirmation of this, and, moreover, Canova’s statue is not in the basilica, as we see.
So, returning to the sculpture itself. Pay attention to how precisely the mattress is conveyed in stone. The folds, the pattern, the tassels of the pillow, and even what seems to be a stain. And Pauline herself must also be pleased.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 