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Napoleon's tomb (French: tombeau de Napoléon) is the monument erected at Les Invalides in Paris to keep the remains of Napoleon following their repatriation to France from Saint Helena in 1840, or retour des cendres, at the initiative of King Louis Philippe I and his minister Adolphe Thiers. While the tomb's planning started in 1840, it was only completed two decades later and inaugurated by Emperor Napoleon III on 2 April 1861, after its promoter Louis Philippe I, architect Louis Visconti, and main sculptors James Pradier and Pierre-Charles Simart had all died in the meantime.

Background

In early 1840, the government led by Adolphe Thiers appointed a twelve-member committee (Commission des douze) to decide on the location and outline of the funerary monument and select its architect. The committee was chaired by politician Charles de Rémusat and included writers and artists such as Théophile Gautier, David d'Angers, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

In April 1840, the Commission des douze organised a competition in which 81 architects participated, whose projects were exhibited in the recently completed Palais des Beaux-Arts. After a protracted process, Louis Visconti was selected as project architect in 1842 and finalised his design around mid-1843.^[1]

Design and completion

Visconti created a circular hollow, or open crypt, beneath the soaring dome of the Invalides. The crypt is accessed through a door flanked by two atlantes by Francisque Joseph Duret, with an inscription above recalling Napoleon's wish to be buried in Paris.^[2] It is surrounded by a circular gallery supported by twelve pillars adorned with victories, sculpted by James Pradier until his death in June 1852. On the gallery's wall are ten large relief panels which celebrate Napoleon's achievements, by Pierre-Charles Simart: Pacification de la nation, centralisation administrative, Conseil d'Etat, Code civil, Concordat, Université impériale, Cour des comptes, Code du commerce, Grands travaux, Légion d'honneur. Two additional panels, by François Jouffroy, commemorate the retour des cendres. A cella contains a partly gilded statue of Napoleon in coronation attire, also by Simart.^[3]

At its centre is a massive sarcophagus which has often been described as made of red porphyry, including in the Encyclopædia Britannica as of mid-2021,^[4] but is actually a purple Shoksha quartzite mined in Russian Karelia. The sarcophagus rests upon a base of green granite from the Vosges.^[5]^[6] That green granite block rests, in turn, upon a slab of black marble, 5.5m × 1.2m × 0.65m, quarried at Sainte-Luce and transported to Paris with great difficulty.^[7] In total the project used stone from no fewer than ten different quarries in and around France, Carrara marble and the quartzite from Russia.^[1]

The monument took years to complete, partly because of the exceptional requirements for the stone to be used. The Russian Shoksha quartzite, intended as an echo of the porphyry used for late Roman imperial burials, was quarried in 1848 by Italian engineer Giovanni Bujatti upon Tsar Nicholas I's special permission, and shipped via Kronstadt and Le Havre to Paris, where it arrived on 10 January 1849. The sarcophagus was then sculpted by marbler A. Seguin using innovative steam-machinery techniques. It was almost finished by December 1853, but the final stages were delayed by the sudden death of Visconti that month and by Napoleon III's alternative project to move his uncle's resting place to the Basilica of Saint-Denis, which he eventually renounced after having commissioned plans for it from Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Visconti was succeeded by Jules Frédéric Bouchet and, following the latter's death in 1860, by Alphonse-Nicolas Crépinet [fr].^[1]

On 2 April 1861, Napoleon's remains were finally transferred into the sarcophagus from the nearby chapel of Saint-Jérôme, where they had lain since 1840. The ceremony was somewhat subdued and only Napoleon III, Empress Eugénie, Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial, other related princes, government ministers, and senior officials of the crown were present.^[8]

Later developments

The tombs of Napoleon's brothers were completed shortly afterwards, also in the Dome church, namely that of Jérôme Bonaparte in 1862 and that of Joseph Bonaparte in 1864.^[3]

On 15 December 1940, the coffin of Napoleon II was transported from Vienna to be placed next to his father's, following a decision made by Adolf Hitler upon advice from his ambassador to France Otto Abetz. Intended to boost support for collaboration in the French public, that initiative ended up precipitating a political crisis in Vichy and the abrupt dismissal of Pierre Laval by Philippe Pétain two days before the ceremony.^[9]^[10] On 18 December 1969, the coffin was transferred underground in the cella and covered by a marble slab.^[11]

In 2021, on the occasion of the second centenary of Napoleon's death, an installation titled Memento Marengo by French visual artist Pascal Convert was placed above the sarcophagus of Napoleon. It is a copy in synthetic materials of the skeleton of Napoleon's favorite horse Marengo, which is preserved as a war trophy (following Marengo's capture at the Battle of Waterloo) at the National Army Museum in London. The arrangement has generated controversy despite its temporary nature.^[12]

Gallery

The open crypt seen from the ground level of the Dôme des Invalides
Queen Victoria visiting Napoleon's temporary tomb in the Invalides, 1855
Memorandum of the translation ceremony on 2 April 1861
Atlante holding the Crown of Napoleon and the Main de justice [fr] (Duret)
Atlante holding the imperial orb and sword (Duret)
Inscription recalling Napoleon's wish to be buried in Paris
Circular gallery with Simart's reliefs
Grands travaux (Simart)
Pacification (Simart)
Université impériale (Simart)
Code civil (Simart)
Tomb of Napoleon II and Simart's statue in the cella
Stone mosaic of the Legion of Honour
Stone mosaic of the imperial eagle
One of Pradier's victories
Memento Marengo installation by Pascal Convert above the tomb, 2021

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Touret, Jacques; Bulakh, Andrey (2016), "The Russian contribution to the edification of the Napoleon tombstone in Paris" (PDF), Vestnik of St Petersburg University, Series 15
^ French text from Napoleon's testament: "Je désire que mes cendres reposent sur les bords de la Seine au milieu de ce peuple français que j’ai tant aimé."
^ ^a ^b Huguenot, Karine; de Bruchard, Marie (2020). "Les Invalides: Le tombeau de Napoléon - Paris". Fondation Napoléon.
^ Lewis, Robert (5 April 2024). "Les Invalides". Encyclopædia Britannica.
^ Lagrange, François. (January 2006). "Les Invalides". L'estampille/L'objet d'art. N°21. p. 51.
^ The stone cost around 200,000 francs, paid by France: L. Léouzon Le Duc, Études sur la Russie, p. 12, cited by Octave Aubry, Sainte-Hélène, Paris, Flammarion, coll. « L’histoire », 1973, p. 461 note 3.
^ Raymond, René (1987). Énigmes, curiosités, singularités. (self-published). p. 158.
^ "Post-Mortem: L'Empereur repose aux Invalides" [Post-Mortem: The Emperor Rests in The Invalides]. Napoléon, prisonnier. 2011.
^ Poisson, Georges (28 October 2013). Hitler's Gift to France: The Return of the Remains of Napoleon II. Enigma Books. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-9296-3167-4.
^ Tyrrell, John (24 January 2020). "December 1940: Return of L'Aiglon Part II". Reflections on A Journey to St Helena.
^ Couvreur, Jean (19 December 1969). "Les cendres du roi de Rome ont été transportées près du tombeau de Napoléon" [The ashes of the King of Rome were transported near Napoleon's tomb]. Le Monde. Paris.
^ Sansom, Anna (13 May 2021). "A French Artist Is Under Fire for Hanging a 'Disrespectful' Replica Skeleton of Napoleon's Horse Over the Military Leader's Tomb". Artnet.

48°51′18″N 2°18′45″E / 48.85505°N 2.312540°E / 48.85505; 2.312540

[Russia-1] Touret, Jacques; Bulakh, Andrey (2016), "The Russian contribution to the edification of the Napoleon tombstone in Paris" (PDF), Vestnik of St Petersburg University, Series 15

[2] French text from Napoleon's testament: "Je désire que mes cendres reposent sur les bords de la Seine au milieu de ce peuple français que j’ai tant aimé."

[Fondation-3] Huguenot, Karine; de Bruchard, Marie (2020). "Les Invalides: Le tombeau de Napoléon - Paris". Fondation Napoléon.

[4] Lewis, Robert (5 April 2024). "Les Invalides". Encyclopædia Britannica.

[5] Lagrange, François. (January 2006). "Les Invalides". L'estampille/L'objet d'art. N°21. p. 51.

[6] The stone cost around 200,000 francs, paid by France: L. Léouzon Le Duc, Études sur la Russie, p. 12, cited by Octave Aubry, Sainte-Hélène, Paris, Flammarion, coll. « L’histoire », 1973, p. 461 note 3.

[7] Raymond, René (1987). Énigmes, curiosités, singularités. (self-published). p. 158.

[8] "Post-Mortem: L'Empereur repose aux Invalides" [Post-Mortem: The Emperor Rests in The Invalides]. Napoléon, prisonnier. 2011.

[9] Poisson, Georges (28 October 2013). Hitler's Gift to France: The Return of the Remains of Napoleon II. Enigma Books. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-9296-3167-4.

[10] Tyrrell, John (24 January 2020). "December 1940: Return of L'Aiglon Part II". Reflections on A Journey to St Helena.

[11] Couvreur, Jean (19 December 1969). "Les cendres du roi de Rome ont été transportées près du tombeau de Napoléon" [The ashes of the King of Rome were transported near Napoleon's tomb]. Le Monde. Paris.

[12] Sansom, Anna (13 May 2021). "A French Artist Is Under Fire for Hanging a 'Disrespectful' Replica Skeleton of Napoleon's Horse Over the Military Leader's Tomb". Artnet.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Short description|Repository for the human remains of Napoleon}}
+{{Short description|Repository for the remains of Napoleon in Paris}}
 [[File:Napoleone Bonaparte's Tomb.jpg|300px|thumb|Sarcophagus of Napoleon]]
+{{For|the painting by Horace Vernet|Napoleon's Tomb (painting)}}
+{{Napoleon series}}
-'''Napoleon's tomb''' ({{lang-fr|tombeau de Napoléon}}) is the monument erected at [[Les Invalides]] in [[Paris]] to keep the mortal remains of [[Napoleon]] following their repatriation to France from [[Saint Helena]] in 1840, or {{lang|fr|[[retour des cendres]]}}, at the initiative of [[Louis Philippe I]] and his minister [[Adolphe Thiers]]. While the tomb's planning started in 1840, it was only completed two decades later and inaugurated by [[Napoleon III]] on 2 April 1861, after its promoter [[Louis Philippe I]], architect [[Louis Visconti]] and main sculptors [[James Pradier]] and [[Pierre-Charles Simart]] had all died in the meantime.
+'''Napoleon's tomb''' ({{langx|fr|tombeau de Napoléon}}) is the monument erected at [[Les Invalides]] in [[Paris]] to keep the remains of [[Napoleon]] following their repatriation to France from [[Saint Helena]] in 1840, or {{lang|fr|[[retour des cendres]]}}, at the initiative of King [[Louis Philippe I]] and his minister [[Adolphe Thiers]]. While the tomb's planning started in 1840, it was only completed two decades later and inaugurated by Emperor [[Napoleon III]] on 2 April 1861, after its promoter Louis Philippe I, architect [[Louis Visconti]], and main sculptors [[James Pradier]] and [[Pierre-Charles Simart]] had all died in the meantime.
 ==Background==
-[[File:President Trump's Trip to France (35879447286).jpg|thumb|The open crypt seen from the ground level of the {{lang|fr|Dôme des Invalides}}]]
 [[File:Tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte - Crypt of Dôme des Invalides - Paris, France - 25 July 2009.jpg|thumb|View from the crypt's floor towards the dome]]
 {{See also|Retour des cendres}}
+In early 1840, the government led by [[Adolphe Thiers]] appointed a twelve-member committee ({{lang|fr|Commission des douze}}) to decide on the location and outline of the funerary monument and select its architect. The committee was chaired by politician [[Charles de Rémusat]] and included writers and artists such as [[Théophile Gautier]], [[David d'Angers]], and [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]].
+In April 1840, the {{lang|fr|Commission des douze}} organised a competition in which 81 architects participated, whose projects were exhibited in the recently completed [[École des Beaux-Arts|Palais des Beaux-Arts]]. After a protracted process, [[Louis Visconti]] was selected as project architect in 1842 and finalised his design around mid-1843.<ref name=Russia/>
-In early 1840, the government led by [[Adolphe Thiers]] appointed a twelve-member committee ({{lang|fr|Commission des douze}}) to decide on the location and outline of the funerary monument and select its architect. The committee was chaired by politician [[Charles de Rémusat]] and included writers and artists such as [[Théophile Gautier]], [[David d'Angers]] and [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]].
-In April 1840, the {{lang|fr|Commission des douze}} organized a competition in which 81 architects participated, whose projects were exhibited in the recently completed [[École des Beaux-Arts|Palais des Beaux-Arts]]. After a protracted process, [[Louis Visconti]] was selected as project architect in 1842 and finalized his design around mid-1843.<ref name=Russia/>
 ==Design and completion==
 Visconti created a circular hollow, or open crypt, beneath the soaring dome of the Invalides. The crypt is accessed through a door flanked by two [[Atlas (architecture)|atlantes]] by [[Francisque Joseph Duret]], with an inscription above recalling Napoleon's wish to be buried in Paris.<ref>French text from Napoleon's testament: "{{lang|fr|Je désire que mes cendres reposent sur les bords de la Seine au milieu de ce peuple français que j’ai tant aimé.}}"</ref> It is surrounded by a circular gallery supported by twelve pillars adorned with victories, sculpted by [[James Pradier]] until his death in June 1852. On the gallery's wall are ten large [[relief]] panels which celebrate Napoleon's achievements, by [[Pierre-Charles Simart]]: {{lang|fr|Pacification de la nation}}, {{lang|fr|centralisation administrative}}, {{lang|fr|Conseil d'Etat}}, {{lang|fr|Code civil}}, {{lang|fr|Concordat}}, {{lang|fr|Université impériale}}, {{lang|fr|Cour des comptes}}, {{lang|fr|Code du commerce}}, {{lang|fr|Grands travaux}}, {{lang|fr|Légion d'honneur}}. Two additional panels, by [[François Jouffroy]], commemorate the ''[[retour des cendres]]''. A ''[[cella]]'' contains a partly gilded statue of Napoleon in coronation attire, also by Simart.<ref name=Fondation/>
-At its center is a massive sarcophagus which has often been described as made of red porphyry, including in the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' as of mid-2021,<ref>{{cite web|website=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Les Invalides |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Hotel-des-Invalides |author=Robert Lewis}}</ref> but is actually a purple [[quartzite]] from a geological region known as Shoksha, near [[Lake Onega]] in Russian [[Karelia]]. The sarcophagus rests upon a base of green granite from the [[Vosges]].<ref>François Lagrange in ''L'estampille/L'objet d'art'' magazine, N°21 January 2006, issue "Les Invalides", p. 51.</ref><ref>The stone cost around 200,000 francs, paid by France: L. Léouzon Le Duc, ''Études sur la Russie'', p. 12, cited by Octave Aubry, ''Sainte-Hélène'', Paris, Flammarion, coll. « L’histoire », 1973, p. 461 note 3.</ref> That green granite block rests, in turn, upon a slab of black marble, 5.5m × 1.2m × 0.65m, quarried at [[Sainte-Luce, Isère|Sainte-Luce]] and transported to Paris with great difficulty.<ref>René Reymond, ''Énigmes, curiosités, singularités'', (self-published), 1987, p. 158.</ref> In total the project used stone from no fewer than ten different quarries in and around France, [[Carrara marble]] and the quartzite from Russia.<ref name=Russia/>
+At its centre is a massive sarcophagus which has often been described as made of red porphyry, including in the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' as of mid-2021,<ref>{{cite web |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Les Invalides |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Hotel-des-Invalides |first=Robert |last=Lewis|date=5 April 2024 }}</ref> but is actually a purple [[Shoksha quartzite]] mined in Russian [[Karelia]]. The sarcophagus rests upon a base of green granite from the [[Vosges]].<ref>Lagrange, François. (January 2006). "Les Invalides". ''L'estampille/L'objet d'art''. N°21. p. 51.</ref><ref>The stone cost around 200,000 francs, paid by France: L. Léouzon Le Duc, ''Études sur la Russie'', p. 12, cited by Octave Aubry, ''Sainte-Hélène'', Paris, Flammarion, coll. « L’histoire », 1973, p. 461 note 3.</ref> That green granite block rests, in turn, upon a slab of black marble, 5.5m × 1.2m × 0.65m, quarried at [[Sainte-Luce, Isère|Sainte-Luce]] and transported to Paris with great difficulty.<ref>Raymond, René (1987). ''Énigmes, curiosités, singularités''. (self-published). p. 158.</ref> In total the project used stone from no fewer than ten different quarries in and around France, [[Carrara marble]] and the quartzite from Russia.<ref name=Russia/>
-The monument took years to complete, partly because of the exceptional requirements for the stone to be used. The Russian quartzite, intended as an echo of the [[porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] used for late Roman imperial burials, was quarried in 1848 by Italian engineer Giovanni Bujatti upon [[Nicholas I of Russia|Tsar Nicholas I]]'s special permission, and shipped via [[Kronstadt]] and [[Le Havre]] to Paris, where it arrived on 10 January 1849. The sarcophagus was then sculpted by marbler A. Seguin using innovative steam-machinery techniques. It was almost finished by December 1853, but the final stages were delayed by the sudden death of Visconti that month and by [[Napoleon III]]'s alternative project to move his uncle's resting place to the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis]], which he eventually renounced after having commissioned plans for it from [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]]. Visconti was succeeded by Jules Frédéric Bouchet and, following the latter's death in 1860, by {{ill|Alphonse-Nicolas Crépinet|fr}}.<ref name=Russia>{{citation|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/217176609.pdf |title=The Russian contribution to the edification of the Napoleon tombstone in Paris |author1=Jacques Touret |author2=Andrey Bulakh |date=2016 |journal=Vestnik of St Petersburg University |series=Series 15}}</ref>
+The monument took years to complete, partly because of the exceptional requirements for the stone to be used. The Russian Shoksha quartzite, intended as an echo of the [[porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] used for late Roman imperial burials, was quarried in 1848 by Italian engineer Giovanni Bujatti upon Tsar [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]]'s special permission, and shipped via [[Kronstadt]] and [[Le Havre]] to Paris, where it arrived on 10 January 1849. The sarcophagus was then sculpted by marbler A. Seguin using innovative steam-machinery techniques. It was almost finished by December 1853, but the final stages were delayed by the sudden death of Visconti that month and by [[Napoleon III]]'s alternative project to move his uncle's resting place to the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis]], which he eventually renounced after having commissioned plans for it from [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]]. Visconti was succeeded by Jules Frédéric Bouchet and, following the latter's death in 1860, by {{ill|Alphonse-Nicolas Crépinet|fr}}.<ref name=Russia>{{citation |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/217176609.pdf |title=The Russian contribution to the edification of the Napoleon tombstone in Paris |first1=Jacques |last1=Touret |first2=Andrey |last2=Bulakh |year=2016 |journal=Vestnik of St Petersburg University |series=Series 15}}</ref>
-On 2 April 1861, Napoleon's remains were finally transferred into the sarcophagus from the nearby chapel of Saint-Jérôme, where they had lain since 1840. The ceremony was somewhat subdued and only the Emperor [[Napoleon III]], Empress [[Eugénie de Montijo|Eugénie]], the Prince Imperial [[Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial|Napoléon Eugène]], other related princes, government ministers and senior officials of the crown were present.<ref>{{cite web|website=Napoléon, prisonnier |title=Post-Mortem: L'Empereur repose aux Invalides. |url=http://www.napoleonprisonnier.com/postmortem/napoleon_aux_invalides.html |date=2006–2011}}</ref>
+On 2 April 1861, Napoleon's remains were finally transferred into the sarcophagus from the nearby chapel of Saint-Jérôme, where they had lain since 1840. The ceremony was somewhat subdued and only Napoleon III, Empress [[Eugénie de Montijo|Eugénie]], [[Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial]], other related princes, government ministers, and senior officials of the crown were present.<ref>{{cite web |website=Napoléon, prisonnier |title=Post-Mortem: L'Empereur repose aux Invalides. |trans-title=Post-Mortem: The Emperor Rests in The Invalides |url=http://www.napoleonprisonnier.com/postmortem/napoleon_aux_invalides.html |year=2011}}</ref>
 ==Later developments==
+The tombs of Napoleon's brothers were completed shortly afterwards, also in the Dome church, namely that of [[Jérôme Bonaparte]] in 1862 and that of [[Joseph Bonaparte]] in 1864.<ref name=Fondation>{{cite web |first1=Karine |last1=Huguenot |first2=Marie |last2=de Bruchard |year=2020 |url=https://www.napoleon.org/magazine/lieux/les-invalides-le-tombeau-de-napoleon-paris/ |website=Fondation Napoléon |title=Les Invalides: Le tombeau de Napoléon - Paris}}</ref>
+On 15 December 1940, the coffin of [[Napoleon II]] was transported from [[Vienna]] to be placed next to his father's, following a decision made by [[Adolf Hitler]] upon advice from his ambassador to France [[Otto Abetz]]. Intended to boost support for collaboration in the French public, that initiative ended up precipitating a political crisis in [[Vichy France|Vichy]] and the abrupt dismissal of [[Pierre Laval]] by [[Philippe Pétain]] two days before the ceremony.<ref>{{cite book |first=Georges |last=Poisson |title=Hitler's Gift to France: The Return of the Remains of Napoleon II |publisher=Enigma Books |date=28 October 2013 |page=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRr9MA5k2P4C&q=dismissal+of+pierre+laval |isbn=978-1-9296-3167-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=Reflections on A Journey to St Helena |title=December 1940: Return of L'Aiglon Part II |date=24 January 2020 |first=John |last=Tyrrell |url=http://johntyrrell.blogspot.com/2020/01/december-1940-return-of-laiglon-part-ii.html}}</ref> On 18 December 1969, the coffin was transferred underground in the ''cella'' and covered by a marble slab.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[Le Monde]] |location=Paris |first=Jean |last=Couvreur |title=Les cendres du roi de Rome ont été transportées près du tombeau de Napoléon |trans-title=The ashes of the King of Rome were transported near Napoleon's tomb |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1969/12/19/les-cendres-du-roi-de-rome-ont-ete-transportees-pres-du-tombeau-de-napoleon_2405683_1819218.html |date=19 December 1969}}</ref>
-The tombs of Napoleon's brothers were completed shortly afterwards, also in the Dome church, namely that of [[Jérôme Bonaparte]] in 1862 and that of [[Joseph Bonaparte]] in 1864.<ref name=Fondation>{{cite web|author1=Karine Huguenot |author2=Marie de Bruchard |date=2002–2020 |url=https://www.napoleon.org/magazine/lieux/les-invalides-le-tombeau-de-napoleon-paris/ |website=Fondation Napoléon |title=Les Invalides : Le tombeau de Napoléon - Paris}}</ref>
+In 2021, on the occasion of the second centenary of Napoleon's death, an installation titled ''Memento Marengo'' by French visual artist [[Pascal Convert]] was placed above the sarcophagus of Napoleon. It is a copy in synthetic materials of the skeleton of Napoleon's favorite horse [[Marengo (horse)|Marengo]], which is preserved as a war trophy (following Marengo's capture at the [[Battle of Waterloo]]) at the [[National Army Museum]] in [[London]]. The arrangement has generated controversy despite its temporary nature.<ref>{{cite web |website=[[Artnet]] |title=A French Artist Is Under Fire for Hanging a 'Disrespectful' Replica Skeleton of Napoleon's Horse Over the Military Leader's Tomb |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/pascal-convert-napoleon-skeleton-1968297#:~:text=Titled%20Memento%20Marengo%20(2021)%2C,%E2%80%9D%2C%20opens%20on%20May%2019. |first=Anna |last=Sansom |date=13 May 2021}}</ref>
-On 15 December 1940, the coffin of [[Napoleon II]] was transported from [[Vienna]] to be placed next to his father's, following a decision made by [[Adolf Hitler]] upon advice from his ambassador to France [[Otto Abetz]]. Intended to boost support for collaboration in the French public, that initiative ended up precipitating a political crisis in [[Vichy France|Vichy]] and the abrupt dismissal of [[Pierre Laval]] by [[Philippe Pétain]] two days before the ceremony.<ref>{{cite book|author=Georges Poisson |title=Hitler's Gift to France: The Return of the Remains of Napoleon II |publisher=Enigma Books |date=2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website=Reflections on A Journey to St Helena |title=December 1940: Return of L'Aiglon Part II |date=24 January 2020 |author=John Tyrrell |url=http://johntyrrell.blogspot.com/2020/01/december-1940-return-of-laiglon-part-ii.html}}</ref> On 18 December 1969, the coffin was transferred underground in the ''cella'' and covered by a marble slab.<ref>{{cite web|website=Le Monde |author=Jean Couvreur |title=Les cendres du roi de Rome ont été transportées près du tombeau de Napoléon |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1969/12/19/les-cendres-du-roi-de-rome-ont-ete-transportees-pres-du-tombeau-de-napoleon_2405683_1819218.html |date=19 December 1969}}</ref>
-In 2021, on the occasion of the second centenary of Napoleon's death, an installation titled ''Memento Marengo'' by French visual artist [[Pascal Convert]] was placed above the sarcophagus of Napoleon. It is a copy in synthetic materials of the skeleton of Napoleon's favorite horse [[Marengo (horse)|Marengo]], which is preserved as a war trophy (following Marengo's capture at the [[Battle of Waterloo]]) at the [[National Army Museum]] in [[London]]. The arrangement has generated controversy despite its temporary nature.<ref>{{cite web|website=artnet |title=A French Artist Is Under Fire for Hanging a 'Disrespectful' Replica Skeleton of Napoleon's Horse Over the Military Leader's Tomb |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/pascal-convert-napoleon-skeleton-1968297#:~:text=Titled%20Memento%20Marengo%20(2021)%2C,%E2%80%9D%2C%20opens%20on%20May%2019. |author=Anna Sansom |date=13 May 2021}}</ref>
 ==Gallery==
 <gallery>
+File:President Trump's Trip to France (35879447286).jpg|The open crypt seen from the ground level of the {{lang|fr|Dôme des Invalides}}
-File:Queen Victoria at the Tomb of Napoleon, 24 August 1855.jpg|Queen Victoria visiting Napoleon's temporary tomb in the Invalides, 1855
+File:Queen Victoria at the Tomb of Napoleon, 24 August 1855.jpg|[[Queen Victoria]] visiting Napoleon's temporary tomb in the Invalides, 1855
 File:Expédition du procès-verbal de la translation des restes mortels de l’empereur Napoléon Ier- Archives-nationales-AE-I-21-7.jpg|Memorandum of the translation ceremony on {{date|1861/04/02}}
 File:Tomb of Napoléon Bonaparte @ Dome @ Musée de l'Armée @ Les Invalides @ Paris (25163987844).jpg|Atlante holding the [[Crown of Napoleon]] and the {{lang|fr|{{ill|Main de justice|fr}}}} (Duret)
@@ Line 52: / Line 49: @@
 ==See also==
-* [[Statue of Napoleon (Rouen)]]
+* [[Equestrian statue of Napoleon]]
 ==Notes==
 {{RefList}}
+{{coord|48.85505|N|2.312540|E|display=title}}
+{{Napoleon}}
-{{coord missing|France}}
+[[Category:1861 establishments in France]]
+[[Category:Buildings and structures completed  in 1861]]
 [[Category:Tombs in France]]
 [[Category:Napoleon]]
 [[Category:Burial sites of the House of Bonaparte]]
+[[Category:Napoleon III]]
+[[Category:Napoleon II]]
+[[Category:Joseph Bonaparte]]

v t e Napoleon
Napoleonic era timeline First French Empire
Family	Wives: Joséphine de Beauharnais Marie Louise Children: Charles Léon Alexandre Walewski Napoleon II Father: Carlo Maria Buonaparte Mother: Letizia Ramolino Brothers: Joseph Bonaparte Lucien Bonaparte Louis Bonaparte Jérôme Bonaparte Sisters: Caroline Bonaparte Pauline Bonaparte Elisa Bonaparte
Life and career	Stay in Auxonne [fr] Coup of 18 Brumaire Consulate Assassination attempts Le souper de Beaucaire Constitutions 1799 1802 1804 1815 Napoleonic Wars Coronation Sale of Louisiana Planned invasion of the United Kingdom Holland Mesures usuelles Looting of art Tactics Weaponry and warfare 1st abdication 1st exile Route Napoléon 2nd abdication 2nd exile Death [fr] mask
Battles and wars	French Revolutionary Wars Siege of Toulon French Revolution 13 Vendémiaire Battle of Lodi Battle of Bassano Battle of Rivoli French campaign in Egypt and Syria Battle of the Pyramids Siege of Jaffa Battle of Marengo War of the Third Coalition Battle of Austerlitz War of the Fourth Coalition Battle of Eylau War of the Fifth Coalition Battle of Eckmühl French invasion of Russia Battle of Borodino War of the Sixth Coalition Battle of Leipzig Battle of Vauchamps Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube Hundred Days Battle of Ligny Battle of Waterloo
Views	Catholic Church Concordat of 1801 Tiara Jewish people Grand Sanhedrin Infamous Decree Protestants Organic Articles Slavery Law of 20 May 1802 Saint-Domingue expedition Women [fr]
Homes and honours	Arc de Triomphe Column of the Grande Armée Equestrian statue Palace of Fontainebleau Les Invalides Longwood House Maison Bonaparte Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker Milan Rue de la Victoire Warsaw monument
Legacy and memory	Bank of France Bonapartism Cultural depictions Napoleon complex "China is a sleeping giant" quote German Romanticism Napoleonic Code Propaganda Tomb Retour des cendres Penis Studies Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)
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