|
Art and Architecture Collection > The Empire and Regency Styles FRANCE – The Empire Style The Empire Style was born from the merger of art and personal aspiration. France’s Emperor wanted a new look: the resultant innovative designs were clean and severe and bear the stamp of Napoleon’s preference for masculine and military effects. The Emperor chose two ambitious visionaries, Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre-Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853), to be his official architects and decorators. They published Recueil de décorations interieures in 1801 and again in 1812, making it the most influential pattern book of the Empire Style. Percier and Fontaine made important innovations within the Louvre and the Tuileries, and their decorative program was carried out in such royal residences as Malmaison and Fontainebleau. Furniture was generally rectangular and symmetrical, and bronze doré appliqué, burnished gold, and jewel-like inlay finishes became hallmarks of the new style. The Empire Style also popularized specific furniture forms: the table de toilette, consoles, tented beds, and camp stools. Ornament, drawn from antique sources, fit well with the concept of imperial dynasty and conquest, and details featuring eagles, bees, Napoleon’s initials, and laurel wreathes took pride of place on cabinetry and metalware. Artistic metalwork flourished in an outpouring of pendulum clocks, gold and silver table pieces, and decorative candelabra. Silk and velvet fabrics were draped, swagged, or suspended from ceilings to achieve an elegant yet martial effect. |