The allure of empire
Subtitle: art in the service of French imperialism, 1798-1836
By: Todd Porterfield.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Princeton, NJ
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Nationalism and art -- France; Art and state -- France; Exoticism in art -- France; Romanticism in art -- France; France -- Cultural policy -- History -- 19th century
Description: From monumental battle paintings to the public display of archaeological spoils, visual culture promoted modern French imperialism. So argues Todd Porterfield in this provocative look at the forces of art and politics in France's military conquest of the Near East.

In challenging the conventional wisdom that France happened into imperial venture, Porterfield explores interactions among artists, generals, journalists, curators, and politicians from the time of Napoleon's conquest of Egypt to the Algerian intervention during the Restoration and July Monarchy. Together they forged an official culture that provided a rationale for imperialism - based on images of France's moral and technological superiority - and an enduring project for Frenchmen of all political persuasions during an era of domestic instability.

The allure of empire derived in part from its function as an alternative, surrogate, mask, and displacement of the Revolution.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-234) and index.