In a vertical format, canvas is a full-length portrait of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, who is depicted standing inside a room at the Tuileries Palace, in Paris. The emperor faces the viewer, while he rests his right hand on his hip and his left on a piece of furniture draped in red fabric, upon which lie a crown and other symbols of imperial authority.
The painting was commissioned by the emperor in 1864, at a time when he already owned Nymph and Satyr and The Birth of Venus, both by Cabanel. It was exhibited at the Salon that same year under the title Portrait of the Emperor.
It was well received in the inner circle of the emperor and was Empress Eugénie de Montijo's favourite portrait of him.[1][2]
Acquired in 2008, the painting is housed at the Château de Compiègne in Compiègne, Oise. A preparatory sketch is held at the Fesch Museum, in Ajaccio. A copy is part of the collection of the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore.
Various copies were made and are held in several public collections.[3][4]
