Article: Josephine as patroness of the arts.(Empress of France's patronage civilized her husband's court)

Josephine de Beauharnais (Pls. III, V), for thirteen years the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte (Pl. IV), is remembered in France and elsewhere as the graceful woman who presided with unfailing charm and finesse over the first court of Europe. That she was the consort of "the most extraordinary personality in human history," (1) would have been enough to establish her renown, but she was also a remarkable person in her own right. It was Josephine who, by her patrician heritage and courtly manners, attracted the aristocracy of the ancien regime to her husband's court, as he freely acknowledged, and she imparted a welcome note of humanity and warmth to a military society. ...

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