Constitution Center to host 'Napoléon'

Visitors to the National Constitution Center this summer will have an opportunity to see a famous black bicorne hat, some not-so-famous underwear and quite a few other not overly legalistic artifacts when the center presents the traveling exhibition

Napoléon

from May 29 through Sept. 7.

At a news conference at the center yesterday, chief executive Linda E. Johnson said the lineup of shows during the next year would "expand audiences" and explore "connections from around the world."

Following Napoléon will be Diana: A Celebration, running from Oct. 2 through Dec. 3, and, next spring, Ancient Rome and America.

On hand for the announcement was Pierre-Jean Chalencon, a 38-year-old Parisian collector of and expert on all things First Empire from whose collection the exhibition is drawn. It already has been seen in Washington, D.C.; Tallahassee, Fla.; Columbia, S.C.; Oklahoma City, and New Orleans. Once it leaves Philadelphia, it will head for Anaheim, Calif., and St. Louis.

Chalencon, who yesterday was wearing a cameo necklace given by Napoléon to his mother Maria Letizia Bonaparte, said he had been an enthusiast of the emperor since the age of 8.

"My father gave me a book about Napoléon. It had a lot of drawings, like a comic book, and at the beginning, I thought it was about Superman, not a true story," Chalencon said.

No, no, his father said, it is true, and he took him to see a house of Napoléon.

"I was shocked," Chalencon said, describing his amazement at seeing the actual bed Napoléon had slept in, his personal effects, even his handkerchiefs.

"I told my father: 'One day, I will own everything,' " he said, and since then he has amassed one of the most significant private collections of Napoléon-related artifacts and art in the world.

The exhibition, produced and distributed by Exhibits Development Group, in cooperation with Cultural Arts Entertainment Group, will feature the one of Napoléon's instantly recognizable bicorne hats, this one worn at the 1809 battle at Essling; his earliest known letter, written at age 14; a lock of Empress Josephine's hair; Napoléon's monogrammed shirt and longjohns worn shortly before his death, and the first will he wrote during his final exile on St. Helena.

Chalencon donned white curatorial gloves to remove the smart black hat from a wooden box to display to reporters yesterday.

The center's Johnson - who at six feet towered over the life-size cutout of the 5-foot-6 emperor she stood next to - said the Diana exhibit will touch on the princess' childhood, her engagement and marriage to Prince Charles, their children and her humanitarian campaigns. It would be, said Johnson, an opportunity to explore "the complicated relationship our nation has with monarchy."

That said, Johnson added that the center is also seeking ways of "attracting new audiences." About 75 percent of the visitors to "America I Am: The African American Imprint," which closes at the center tomorrow, have been African American.

"That's an audience we haven't attracted before," she said.

In the same way, she believes "Diana" will entice those who otherwise might not consider venturing to the center.

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