Koningin Hortense de Beauharnais in haar privévertrekken
Closely watched by the bust of her stepfather, Napoleon, Queen Hortense is reading Thérèse philosophe, a pornographic novel, with her hand wandering under her dress and her bottom exposed to the fire. This obscene political caricature mocks the sexual appetite of Louis Bonaparte’s
wife, briefly Queen of Holland (1806–1810), who was known for her numerous extramarital affairs.