NAPOLEON'S CHILDREN PART I | THE ADOPTED - Eugene, Duke of Leuchtenberg; Hortense, Queen of Holland; and Stephanie, Grand Duchess of Baden with Eugene Barilo Von Reisberg

pon proclaiming himself Emperor, Napoleon wanted desperately to ally himself with the reigning dynasties of Europe. The lack of unmarried siblings did not stop him. After placing his brothers and sisters on the thrones of conquered nations, he formally adopted Eugène, Hortense, and Stéphanie de Beauharnais - the children and a niece of his wife, Empress Josephine - to use them as pawns in his Game of Thrones.

EUGENE BARILO VON REISBERG is a Melbourne-based lecturer, researcher, and art consultant.  He has completed a doctoral dissertation on Franz Xaver Winterhalter, the 19th century elite portrait specialist, at the University of Melbourne, and lectures and publishes widely on 19th century art, history, and culture.

image caption: Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1767-1855), Portrait of Hortense, Queen of Holland (1783-1837), 1813, watercolor on cardboard | 130 × 95 mm, collection of the Musée National du Château de Malmaison (Creative Commons)

EUGENE BARILO VON REISBERG is a Melbourne-based lecturer, researcher, and art consultant.  He has completed a doctoral dissertation on Franz Xaver Winterhalter, the 19th century elite portrait specialist, at the University of Melbourne, and lectures and publishes widely on 19th century art, history, and culture.