Joseph Stieler - Letizia Bonaparte, née Ramolino, called Madame Mère

Joseph Stieler

1781 Mainz - 1858 München

Letizia Bonaparte, née Ramolino, called Madame Mère

Remnants of a handwritten contemporary inscription and the exhibition label from 2001 on the frame verso. Latter numbering in chalk "X 20/303" on the stretcher. Oil auf canvas. 64 x 54 cm. Restored. Minor damage to frame (83 x 71 cm).

Label of the Parisian frame manufacturer Souty, 10 rue dAngivilliers [sic!], Paris on the frame verso.

"Quatre jours après la mort de Madame, le peuple de Rome, non informé, sempressait en foule vers léglise Saint-Pierre, qui venait douvrir son vaste portique et de revêtir ses magnifiques insignes de cérémonie pontificale, à lappel des cloches et des décharges dartillerie. On célébrait lintronisation dun nouveau pape, on allait rendre foi et hommage au Saint-Père, tandis quun modeste char funèbre, suivi de quelques fidèles et par les pauvres, sortait en silence du palais Rinuccini, tendu de noir et traversait, au pas lent de la douleur, la place de Venise et le Corso, pour se rendre à léglise Saint-Louis-des-Français. Ce convoi était celui de lhumble princesse qui navait pas reçu le titre dImpératrice Douairière, au temps de prospérité de lempire, ni conservé son grand nom de Bonaparte, pour sappeler, simplement, selon son cour, Madame Mère." "Four days after Madames death, the uninformed people of Rome rushed in droves to St Peters Church, which had just opened its vast portico and donned its magnificent ceremonial pontifical regalia to the call of bells and artillery fire. They were celebrating the enthronement of a new pope, and were about to pay homage to the Holy Father, while a modest funeral procession, followed by a few of the faithful and by the poor, left the black-clad Palazzo Rinuccini in silence and crossed the Piazza di Venezia and the Corso with the slow step of grief, on its way to the church of Saint-Louis-des-Français. This convoy belonged to the humble princess who had not been given the title of Empress Dowager during the prosperous period of the Empire, nor had she kept her great name of Bonaparte, but simply called herself Madame Mère, according to her heart." [1]

Who was this Madame Mère who was given such a simple funeral? It was the mother of Napoleon Bonaparte! Letizia Bonaparte was the mother of three kings, a queen, two princesses and Napoleon I. She lived through decisive years in European history, from the reign of the French King Louis XV to the year before the accession of Queen Victoria of England. Born into poor circumstances, she married at the age of 13 and was widowed at 34 after giving birth to 12 children, eight of whom survived. Letizia was the centre of a family of eccentric character. Her maternal pride in Napoleon was clouded by constant concern for his safety and a foresight that his meteoric rise to power would be followed by an equally precipitous fall.

Letizia Ramolino was born in Ajaccio on 24 August 1750. She received only a rudimentary school education. At the age of six she lost her father, and her mother soon married a captain in a Swiss regiment named Franz Fesch. Around the time of the birth of her half-brother Joseph (1763), who was later to become her economic and spiritual advisor, plans were already being made for the 13-year-old beauty to marry. A student of jurisprudence, the 18-year-old Carlo Bonaparte, was chosen, and the wedding took place on 2 June 1764. Early on, both fought for the independence of Corsica, and after the conquest of the island by the French in 1769, Bonaparte joined them.

For 20 years, Letizia devoted herself to having children, sometimes with medical complications. When she became pregnant at 14, she lost her first two children. Not only an emotional burden for the young woman in a country where a womans worth was measured by the number of children, especially sons. In 1768 she gave birth to Joseph, the first child to survive infancy. Her second son was Napoleon (called "Nabulione" by his mother), who was born nine days before her 19th birthday. By 1778 Letizia had given birth to three more children: Lucien, Elisa and Louis. At almost 30 she had her tenth child, Pauline, and 15 months later her eleventh, Carolina. The household was virtually overcrowded with children, a number of relatives and a nurse; Letizias talent for maintaining discipline was taxed. The familys financial situation was quite difficult. Her last child, Jérôme, was born ten days after her husband left Corsica to be treated for a protracted illness. The family was not to see her husband and father again. At only 39 years of age, Carlo Bonaparte died shortly after New Years Day 1785, leaving Letizia with eight children, five of whom were not yet ten years old. It was the second-born son Napoleon, the only child with a professional education, who was to determine the familys future. When the Bonapartes were classified as "personae non gratae" by the corsican nationalists in 1793, Letizia fled with her family into exile in France, where they lived in poverty - a humiliating experience that had a great influence on the rest of her life. Napoleon, meanwhile, was making a career for himself: After the successful defence of Toulon, he was appointed brigadier general and given command of the army in Italy. By the age of 30, he was the ruler of France. After Napoleon had crowned himself emperor in 1804, he continued to support his family financially, also providing his relatives with positions for which not all were fully suited. Out of loyalty to Corsica, he made his sister Elisa Princess of Piombino in 1805. In the following months Joseph was made King of Naples, Louis King of Holland and Jérôme (by now married to his second wife, Princess Catherine of Württemberg) King of Westphalia. The mother distrusted the good fortune bestowed on her daughters and sons during this time. On the occasion of Napoleons imperial coronation, which she did not attend, Letizia uttered the iconic phrase: "Pourvu que ça dure!" ("Long may it last!"). [2] Her daughters refused to wear Joséphines train on the occasion of the coronation. But his family had not reckoned with Napoleons subtle revenge: Madame Mère will recognise herself four years later in Davids famous depiction of the "Sacre". The artist certainly did not integrate the emperors mother into the crowd-pleasing scene without Napoleons knowledge.

Letizia, who now bore the title of Madame la Mère de lEmpereur, impressed the European courts with her modesty (there was also talk of stinginess) and dignity. She invested her newly acquired wealth wisely and tried to keep the unruly family together. There were a number of unhappy marriages and unions and illnesses in the family. Napoleons marriage to Joséphine de Beauharnais, that remained childless and led to divorce, and his second marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria were met with reservations by Letizia. Marie-Louise finally gave birth to the hoped-for son and heir to the throne in 1811. Napoleons star, however, began to decline. Madame Mère accompanied Napoleon in his exile on Elba. For the first time in years, she was able to join the members of her family and provide them with moral support. This was not to last, however, as Napoleon returned to Paris for 100 days. The last family dinner before the debacle at Waterloo was attended by almost all of Letizias children. Napoleons tearful farewell to his mother is legendary.

In 1818, Letizia bought a 17th century palace in Rome, the Palazzo dAste Rinuccini (now Palazzo Bonaparte) to retire to. After the fall of Napoleon, Pope Pius VII had shown impressive magnanimity towards her relatives. No country had been willing to take in the Corsicans family, above all Napoleons mother. In the Eternal City she was granted asylum. "I am truly the mother of all sorrows, and my only consolation is to know that the Holy Father has consigned the past to oblivion and to be mindful of all the kindness he has always shown to all members of my family. We found support in the papal government and our gratitude will find no bounds." With these words Letizia describes her gratitude in a letter to Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi. [3]

She led a pious and contemplative life in Rome, but waited anxiously for news of Napoleon, who was meanwhile living in exile on St Helena. After learning about his death death on 22 July 1821, she surrounded herself with a "museum of memories". Six months before her own death at the age of 87, almost blind, she dictated her memoirs, in which she said of her own last years: "My life ended with the fall of the Emperor. From that moment I gave up everything forever."

Letizia Bonaparte died in Rome on 2 February 1836. The death of Madame Mère was announced by the Capitol bell. The Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen took the death mask from the deceased. At the insistence of the foreign envoys in Rome, the Bonaparte family was forbidden to place the words "Mater Imperatoris Francorum" on the sarcophagus. They had to make do with the inscription "Mater regum". The imperial coat of arms was visible at the funeral, with the initials "LRB" for Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte and the inscription "Mater Napoleonis".

She left 1,700,000 francs to be divided among her children, although her fortune was probably at least twice as high. Asked about her enormous wealth, Letizia had wisely formulated, "I have six or seven princes as children who will one day be on my back." [4] Letizia Bonapartes remains were transferred to Ajaccio in 1851 and buried in the imperial chapel in 1860.

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"Madame Mère must have been a beauty of the first rank in her youth. Her face was well modeled, with regular features [...] There was always something haughtiness and severity in her look. But the beauty of her features lost part of its effects because of the thick layer of paint which she put on her cheeks. This did not harmonize with her age, which required greater naturalness in the color of her skin. Too much rouge does not go well with wrinkles. On ordinary weekdays her dress was simple, though rich. She ordinarly wore a little bonnet ornamented with flowers. On Sundays and holidays, when she was in full dress to come to the palace, she had on a toque with feathers. On these occasions she wore very fine diamonds. I knew nothing about her household arrangements; I know that she was very religious and was said to be very miserly. When she spoke French she had a very marked Italian accent. She said very little." [5] Louis-Etienne Saint-Denis (1788-1856), a Mameluke in the Imperial Guard, describes Letizia Bonapartes physiognomy in 1814, when she was on Elba. A benevolent but also critical description, which is confirmed in part by Joseph Stielers portrait, painted three years earlier. A "portrait privé" in the classical sense, for in the depiction all jewellery is dispensed with, Letizia wears a relatively simple dress, a simple - though noble - shawl. The only jewellery is her elaborately worked lace bonnet. So this is how Madame Mère showed herself in private: rather modest, reserved, turned towards the people.

In his autobiography of 1811, which remains fragmentary, Joseph Stieler writes: "After a years stay [in Rome] I had to make a trip to Naples, where I painted portraits for the then K.M. [King Murat]." [6] "On 9 May I went to Naples and took 180 scudi with me; on 22 August I returned and brought 160 ducati with me ... I earned 50 Louis dOr for the portrait of the [...] Queen." [7] The commission is also mentioned in the Munich press (albeit very briefly): "After completing it [an altarpiece depicting St. Leonhard], Stieler made a trip to Naples, where he painted several portraits for King Mürat [sic!]" [8] The wife of his client Joachim Murat, King of Naples from 1808 to 1815 as Joachim Napoléon I (Gioacchino Napoleone I), was Caroline Bonaparte (1782-1839), Napoleons youngest sister and Letizias second youngest child. It is not known whom Joseph Stieler actually painted in Naples. However, this stay in Naples was the only opportunity in the artists biography to deal with Letizia Bonaparte.

In the estate inventory of Letizias half-brother, Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839), there is an interesting entry: "[N°] 3908 Quadro in tela alto piedi due, largo piede uno, e tre quarti rappresentante un Ritratto in mezza figura die madama Letizia scudi quindici" by an unknown artist. The painting was in the Palazzo Falconieri in Rome, in the "Camera appresso detta la Toletta". [9] It is tempting to assume that it could have been the present portrait of Madame Mère because of its similarity in measure. Moreover, Stielers portrait is not signed, which could be the reason why it is listed in the Fesch inventory as the work by an unknown artist.

Heir to the Cardinals collection was Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), as Joseph I first King of Naples from 1806-1808, then King of Spain from 1808-1813. Joseph Bonaparte had his uncles collection auctioned off in 1843-1845. He kept 300 paintings in his own possession, apparently including Letizias portrait. This is not listed in the corresponding auction catalogues. In addition to two legitimate daughters, of whom only the first-born, Zenaïde Charlotte Julie (1801-1854), survived her father, Joseph Bonaparte, who called himself Comte de Survilliers after the fall of Napoleon, had an illegitimate daughter from the time of his exile in the United States: Caroline Charlotte (1822-1890). One of the two was to have come into possession of the portrait of Letizia Bonaparte after Josephs death.

[1] Larrey, Félix Hippolyte Baron de, Madame Mère (Napoleonis Mater). Essai historique. Vol. 2. Paris 1892, p. 491 f. [2] Müchler, Günter, Napoleon - Revolutionär auf dem Kaiserthron. Darmstadt 2019, p. 30. [3] Nersinger, Ulrich, Aus der Geschichte des Kirchenstaates - Madame Mère und die Päpste, in: LOsservatore Romano, 25 June 2021. Available online at: https://www.osservatoreromano.va/de/news/2021-06/madame-mere-und-die-papste.html

[4] Müchler, Günter, Napoleon - Revolutionär auf dem Kaiserthron. Darmstadt 2019, p. 29. [5] Napoleon - From the Tuileries to St. Helena. Personal recollections of the emperors second mameluke and valet, Louis Etienne St. Denis (known as Ali). New York 1922, p. 80. [6] Manuscript Department of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich, Stieleriana. Autobiography II. [7] Manuscript Department of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich, Stieleriana, Abrechnungsheft 1805-1811. [8] Marggraff, Rudolph, Zur Erinnerung an Joseph Stieler und seine Zeit, in: Abendblatt zur Neuen Münchener Zeitung No. 144, 18 June 1858, p. 574. [9] Archivio di Stato, Roma, Italia (Notai Capitolini, ufficio 11, not. Augusto Apolloni, anno 1839, vol. 609, ff.37-503v), here f.264.

Literature: Schwartz, Constance / Hill Perrell, Franklin (editor), Napoleon And His Age. Exhibition catalogue Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbour, New York, 28. January - 29 April 2001, page 88 and illustration on page 49: exhibited there as a work by an unknown artist and dated "circa 1805".



Confirmation of authenticity: Dr. Ulrike von Hase-Schmundt, Munich, 20 July 2023. The painting will be included in the 2nd edition of the catalogue raisonné of Joseph Stielers work.



We thank Dr. Ulrike von Hase-Schmundt for providing her transcriptions from Stielers notes in the Bavarian State Library.



Provenance: [Joachim and Caroline Murat, Naples]. - [Cardinal Joseph Fesch, Rome]. - Acquired in the 1980s by Christopher Rehnlund-Ross, then USA. - Private owner, South Germany.