François Joseph KINSON (1770-1839)

Prince Camille Borghese, Duke of Guastalla, in the uniform of a Major General, wearing the Golden Fleece and the insignia of Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and the Iron Crown Canvas, signed lower left, circa 1808 193 x 130.5 cm (old restorations) A condition report is available on request from the firm Camille BORGHESE, prince of Sulmona and Rossano, born in Rome in 1775 He was considered as the richest of the Roman princes; also his family was one of the most heavily hit by the taxes established by the French generals after the murder of General Duphot, in 1798 A supporter of liberal ideas, Camille served in the French army, and in 1803 was called to Paris, where he married the sister of the First Consul, Pauline Bonaparte, widow of General Leclerc. This marriage made him a French prince in 1804, and, in 1806, prince and duke of Guastalla. In 1807, the emperor forced him to sell his magnificent collection of works of art for 3 million in cash, the abbey of Lucedio, near Turin, estimated at 4 million, and 300,000 francs in rent. In execution of this expropriation, the museum of the Villa Borghese was transported to France. Thus Rome lost the Gladiator, the Hermaphrodite, the Silenus, the Gabrino Museum and a number of monuments of antiquity and the fine arts. The following year (1808), Napoleon appointed him Grand Dignitary of the Empire and Governor General of the departments of Piedmont, Genoa and Parma. He established his court in Turin and endeared himself to the people there. After Napoleon's abdication in 1814, he handed over Piedmont and Genoa to the allies. From that time on, he ceased all relations with the Bonapartes, and separated from his wife, about whom he had complaints. In 1815 a large part of his museum was returned to him, but he sold his land of Lucedio, in Piedmont, and lived in Florence and Rome. He died in Florence in 1832. Provenance: - RAMOLINO family, family of Madame Mère, mother of Emperor Napoleon I - Félix RAMOLINO de COLL'ALTO (1897-1977) - By descent Exhibition: - Salon of 1808. n°322. "H.I.H. Prince Borghese, Duke of Guastalla". Analysis of the portrait: Prince Camille Borghese is depicted, in front of the Roman countryside, in the grand uniform of a major general (rank to which he was appointed on 23 January 1808) : - Uniform of cloth with double row of oak leaf embroidery on collar and facings - Sash belt in gold trimmings interspersed with scarlet, with three-star tassels - Epaulettes in gold trimmings with three silver stars - The aiguillette seems to correspond to his appointment (February 24, 1808) as governor general of the "departments beyond the Alps". - Bicorne made of taupe felt, bordered with a gold passementerie braid, trimmed with white feathers. The ganse holds a cockade with the French tricolour Borghese wears at his side a luxury sabre "à la Marengo", with a general of division's strap and a velvet belt embroidered with oak leaves and buckled with the imperial eagle The Prince wears on his portrait the orders of knighthood of which he is holder: - in saltire, the insignia of knight of the order of the Spanish Golden Fleece (promotion of 18 June 1805) - the badge, sash and plaque of Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour (promotion of 10 February 1805) - the badge, the sash and the plaque of dignitary of the Italian Iron Crown (promotion of February 20, 1806) History: "The missing piece Full-length portraits of the imperial family are extremely rare in private hands. Our portrait is in fact the missing element of a triptych: - Kinson's full-length portrait of Pauline Bonaparte, Princess Borghese, known from a photograph taken in the early 20th century and preserved in the Borghese Gallery. It is n°321 of the 1808 salon exhibited by Kinson. A bust reduction of the painter's studio is now kept in the Museo Napoleonico in Rome. - The second element of this triptych is the portrait of the couple in the Museumslandschaft Hessen in Kassel. The couple is depicted in an antique interior: Pauline is seated in the same pose and dress as her "full-length" portrait and Camille Borghese in a pose and uniform identical to ours. The painting was not finished, especially in the embroidery elements of the Prince or the sofa under which the Princess is sitting. - The full-length portrait of the Prince, exhibited by Kinson at the 1808 Salon under no. 322, which we present. The pose used by Kinson is the same as the one used for the portrait of Jerome Bonaparte and his wife Catherine of Wurtemberg (Versailles and Trianon castles)