page_title: Jean-Antoine Marbot
section_title: Military governor of Paris
hierarchical_section_title: Jean-Antoine Marbot / Biography / Military governor of Paris
caption_attribution_description: English: An beautifully engraved and extremely obscure 1800 map of Genoa or Genova, Italy. Covers the walled center of Genoa and parts of the surrounding countryside as far as Voltri in the west and Calzo in the east. Detailed to the level of individual buildings with a number of churches, monasteries, convents and private villas noted. The engraver, Bardi, is best known for his intense landscapes and engravings of classical sculpture where he is a master of rendering three dimensional concepts on a two dimensional plane. Bardi's translation of this skill into the cartographic medium is exhibited here in his superb freehand rendering of topographical detail. Bardi's work is extremely scarce and we have no evidence his work ever appearing on the market - though a few maps, including this one, do appear in a couple of major institutional collections. Please take the time to admire the masterful topographical engraving as it is among the finest and most artistically sophisticated we have seen.
context_page_description: Jean-Antoine Marbot, also known to contemporaries as Antoine Marbot, was a French general and politician. He belongs to a family that has distinguished itself particularly in the career of arms, giving three generals to France in less than 50 years.
context_section_description: He was appointed military governor of Paris by the Minister of War, General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte on 5 July 1799, replacing General Barthélemy Joubert at the head of the 17th Military Division stationed in Paris. After General Napoleon Bonaparte's return from the Egyptian campaign, he opposed the planned coup d'état, which was to overthrow the government of the Directory and replace it with a more autocratic Consulate. Its authors, led by Director Emmanuel Sieyès, and eventually joined by General Bonaparte, knew that they needed the support of the armed forces in Paris to pursue their scheme. Fearing its current commander's attachment to republican ideals, they offered him a new position in the leadership of the Army of Italy, which he accepted. After his resignation, the more favourable General François Lefebvre succeeded him as military governor of Paris.
caption: Plan of the fortifications of Genoa in 1800
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