Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne, 1806, painted by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780 – 1867). Musée de l’Armée, Hôtel des Invalides, Paris (Public Domain / Wikipedia).

It is difficult to know if the man created the style, or the style created the man. Like a Roman Caesar he wanted to conquer the world, basing his constitution on Roman law. He also wished to distance himself from the old, regime, now guillotined. While Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette had looked to ancient Greece to elevate themselves as figures of almost mythological majesty, Napoleon’s new style, in emulating Rome, emphasised military might over divine right.

The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David completed in 1807. Musée du Louvre, Paris (Public Domain / Wikipedia).

The leading figure—or so-called dictator—of the Empire Style was Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), a French painter in the Neoclassical style whose ideals were closely aligned with Napoleon’s. Previously the court painter to Louis XVI, David actively participated in the Revolution and even voted for the king’s execution. His paintings were classical in both style and subject, and he designed interiors and furnishings to harmonize with the Roman gods and goddesses he depicted.

The most influential architects of the Empire Style were Charles Percier (1764–1838) and Pierre François-Léonard Fontaine (1762–1853). As official architects to Napoleon, their primary responsibility was the renovation of various palaces, including Malmaison, Saint-Cloud, Compiègne, Versailles, Fontainebleau, and the imperial residences in Antwerp, Mainz, Strasbourg, Rome, Florence, and Venice. Their ‘Recueil des décorations intérieures’ (1812), became the essential handbook of the Empire Style.

The bee was one of several symbolic emblems selected by a committee to represent France, with Napoleon having the final say. Chosen for its historical significance, the bee linked Napoleon’s rule to the ancient Merovingian dynasty, helping to legitimize his authority while distancing it from the symbols of the ancien régime, such as the fleur-de-lis. The designs were influenced by the ornamental style of Nero’s Domus Aurea and other Roman ruins, which had been meticulously documented in the late 18th century by Robert Adam in Britain and Lodovico Mirri in Rome.

Legend has it that the bee never sleeps, symbolizing vigilance and zeal—qualities Napoleon was eager to embody. Over time, the bee has come to represent hard work, diligence, industriousness, and orderliness. Other Napoleonic emblems include the initials “I” (for Imperator) and “N” (for Napoleon).

The Empress Josephine’s bedroom, Château de Malmaison, source Wikipedia

The majestoic swan bed was supplied to the Empress Joséphine by Francois-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter for Malmaison in 1810.

Napoleon’s embrace of Classical-inspired decoration was intended to sharply contrast with the stylistic excesses of the Baroque and Rococo periods, as well as the anciens régimes that favored those styles. Antique themes and motifs were used to represent France’s civic and military ideals. Given the constant military conflict during the Napoleonic era, martial designs became fashionable, introducing elements like camp furniture, pennant-style draperies, and tented beds into popular decor.

The beauty of the Empire style lies in its splendid uniformity, but it was the work of many hands. Beyond Percier and Fontaine, the Empire period also gave us the furniture of Jacob Desmalter, the gilt-bronze of Pierre-Philippe Thomire, and the clocks of Breguet.

The Napoleonic Wars and the fluctuating array of European coalitions made the Empire Style far reaching. The dissemination of the style to Italy occurred directly with the installation of Napoleon’s 24-year-old stepson Eugène de Beauharnais as viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy. His brother Joseph Bonaparte brought the Empire Style with him as King of Naples and then King of Spain. More widely, the classical revival and a taste for Egyptian motifs resulting from the Napoleonic expeditions to Egypt in 1798, became part of the Regency fashion in England. The influence of the Empire can also be seen in the Biedermeier style in central Europe and the late-Federal style in the United States.

The Roman analogy with the Empire Style is well shown by the Arc de Triomphe which is inspired by ancient sources such as the Arch of Titus in Rome. However, the Arc de Triomphe, begun in1806 after Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz, was not completed until 1836. Just as work on the Arc de Triomphe was halted by King Louis XVIII in 1815, then adapted and completed during the reign of King Louis Philippe, the Empire Style long informed a certain imperial classicism in the decorative arts into the mid-19^th century.

The ‘Salon Empire’ at the Musée Centennal at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle.

Ironically however, with the arrival Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon I, as president of the Second Republic of France (1850–52) and then emperor of the French (1852–70), the last vestiges of the Empire Style vanished in a tide of eclecticism. However, by the end of the 19th century the cult of Napoleon had reached a highpoint and there was an Empire revival. Amongst various Napoleonic exhibitions, interest in Empire interiors was promoted by an exhibition of Empire furniture and works of art in the Musée Centennal at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. The Empire was established as a definitive historical style and revived by contemporary interior designers. Parisian furniture makers such as François Linke, Antoine Krieger and Paul Sormani responded by creating Empire furnishings of exceptional quality.

Further Reading

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/empr/hd_empr.htm

https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/great-characters/napoleon-i

C. Percier and P.F.L. Fontaine, Recueil De Décorations Intérieures, 1812.
F. Baudot, Empire Style, London, 1999.
A. Dion-Tenenbaum and O. Nouvel-Kammerer, Symbols of Power Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style 1800-1815. Paris: Les Arts Decoratifs, 2007.
J. Ebeling, Empire Style: The Hôtel de Beauharnais in Paris, 2020.