The portraits of Madame Mère in Ajaccio
Letizia Ramolino was the subject of numerous works of art, almost equal to her children. Works of diverse genres and techniques are kept and displayed in Ajaccio, her city.
In the Salon Napoléonien of the Hôtel de Ville we find her most celebrated image: a work by François Gérard, made after Letizia had become “Son Altesse impériale, Madame, mère de l’Empereur”, and the first official portrait of the Corsican who never learned French. The mother of the emperor is shown seated, dressed in white silk and in front of a red drapery that covers the chair. Next to her is a white marble bust of her son wearing a laurel crown.
In the Musée Fesch another portrait of Letizia is on view, made by the workshop of Gérard: this, too, is a highly celebrated image of Madame Mère. Half–length in format and replicated many times, even by Gérard, it shows the woman with her head covered by an impalpable translucent veil and bearing a sweet smile on her lips.
The painting of Madame Mère by Robert Lefèvre conserved at the Maison Bonaparte and made in 1813 instead shows her in a full–length pose. There are known copies of this work as well: one is at the Versailles museum and another is at the Napoleon Museum in Rome.
Letizia Ramolino was also represented in marble: in Ajaccio, at the Musée Fesch, there is a bust of Letizia by Raimondo Trentanove, a student of Canova in Rome from 1815. The bust is signed and dated 1818, but the sculptor, who depicted the woman while in Rome, did not portray the elderly matron that Madame Mère must have been by that time, being sixty–eight years old, but rather a young woman with a smooth, relaxed face. In the sculpture, Letizia wears a medallion featuring the profile of her son, by then no longer emperor, wearing a laurel crown.
Another bust of Madame Mère, by Canova, is housed at the Maison Bonaparte.
François Gérard, Portrait of Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte
Salon Napoléonien of the Hôtel de Ville
Place Foch
Ajaccio
The museum is open according to the following schedule
15 June to 15 September: from 9 AM to 11.45 AM and from 2 PM to 5.45 PM. Closed Monday mornings
16 September to 14 June: from 9.00 AM to 11.45 AM and from 2.00 PM to 4.45 PM. Closed Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
Admission ticket: full 2.30 euros, groups 1.50 euros
Free admission for those under 15 years of age
http://www.ajaccio.fr/Salons-Napoleoniens_a50.html
François Gérard (workshop), Portrait of Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte
Raimondo Trentanove, Bust of Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte
By Antonio Canova, Bust of Letizia Ramolino Bonapartee
Musée Fesch
Rue Cardinal Fesch, 50–52
Ajaccio
The museum is open according to the following schedule
From 1 October to 30 April: Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM; Thursday, Friday and the third Sunday of the month from 12 PM to 5 PM.
From 2 May to 30 September: Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 10.30 AM to 6 PM; Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 12 PM to 6 PM; Thursdays during the month of August, the museum remains open until 8.30 PM
Day of closure: Tuesdays.
The museum is closed on the following holidays: 25 December, 1 January, 1 November, 11 November, 18 March, Easter Sunday, 1 May.
Admission ticket: full 8.00 euros; reduced 5.00 euros; reduced for tourism operators partnered with the museum 4.00 euros.
http://www.musee-fesch.com/
Robert Lefèvre, Portrait of Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte
Maison Bonaparte
Rue Saint–Charles
Ajaccio
The house–museum is open every day except Mondays according to the following schedule
1 October to 31 March: from 10 AM to 12 PM and from 2 PM to 4.45 PM
1 April to 30 September: from 9 AM to 12 PM and from 2 PM to 6 PM
Admission ticket: full 7 euros from 15 April to 15 October, 6 euros from 31 October to 14 April; reduced 5.50 euros from 15 April to 15 October, 4.50 euros from 31 October to 14 April; group rate (10 person minimum) 6 euros from 15 April to 15 October, 7 euros from 31 October to 14 April
Free admission for those under 26 years of age, for the Friends of the Malmaison and every first Sunday twelve months a year
http://www.musee-maisonbonaparte.fr/
