Napoleon and the Louvre: a museum forged by an emperor

Around fifty works in the museum are directly linked to the Egyptian campaigns launched between 1798 and 1810. 

Designed in part to limit British access to the Indies, the military expedition was accompanied by scientists, botanists and artists who studied the country in depth. 

Among the pieces brought back, the Rosetta Stone later allowed Jean-François Champollion to decipher the hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt.

In the Decorative Arts collection (Richelieu wing, room 10), a tea service was commissioned for Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon's second wife. Empress Joséphine is honored too, with a portrait by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon displayed in the same room as the Coronation. Room 700 holds Antoine-Jean Gros's Napoleon on the Battlefield of Eylau, 9 February 1807, and the Sculptures Department features Napoleon in Triumph, in the manner of a Roman emperor.

His influence extends beyond the artworks. The space beneath the main pyramid bears his name, and the appointment of Denon as director shaped acquisitions that still define the museum today.