{"id":122096,"date":"2023-12-04T12:01:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T12:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uklevitrasupport.com\/?p=122096"},"modified":"2023-12-04T12:01:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T12:01:07","slug":"napoleon-film-takes-liberties-but-this-house-shows-emperors-true-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uklevitrasupport.com\/travel\/napoleon-film-takes-liberties-but-this-house-shows-emperors-true-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Napoleon film takes liberties but this house shows emperor&apos;s true past"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Napoleon unmasked: Ridley Scott&#8217;s blockbuster takes liberties, but there are plenty of real treasures to uncover at his victor the Duke of Wellington&#8217;s old London home (which you can visit)<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The new Napoleon film is littered with inaccuracies, notes Harry Mount<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>&#8216;So thank goodness for Apsley House,&#8217; he says, as it&#8217;s a trove of Napoleon items<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>READ MORE: Map reveals the 16 most in-demand tourist attractions in the world<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ridley Scott\u2019s blockbuster film, Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the little Corsican general, is littered with inaccuracies. At least, that\u2019s the general consensus.<\/p>\n<p>Napoleon didn\u2019t bombard the pyramids. Marie Antoinette didn\u2019t have long, frizzy hair when she was executed. And Napoleon\u2019s French troops didn\u2019t shout, \u2018Vive la France\u2019, with an American accent.<\/p>\n<p>So, thank goodness for Apsley House \u2014 the Duke of Wellington\u2019s old home on Hyde Park Corner, which features a splendid museum and gallery with fascinating detail about the French emperor.<\/p>\n<p>Apsley House \u2014 which rejoices in the address of Number One, London\u00a0\u2014 was owned by Wellington\u2019s older brother, the Marquess Wellesley.<\/p>\n<p>But, in 1817, two years after his magnificent victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, Wellington bought the house and turned it into a treasure trove of his triumphs.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/29\/11\/78369537-12804375-image-m-43_1701258910678.jpg\" height=\"371\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Apsley House &#8211; the Duke of Wellington\u2019s old home on Hyde Park Corner &#8211; features a splendid museum and gallery with fascinating detail about the French emperor, writes Harry Mount<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/29\/12\/78370673-12804375-image-a-47_1701260572635.jpg\" height=\"421\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Apsley House (above) &#8211; &#8216;which rejoices in the address of Number One, London&#8217; &#8211; was owned by Wellington\u2019s older brother, the Marquess Wellesley<\/p>\n<p>Everywhere you look in this part of London is Wellington Country. Next to Apsley House is the Wellington Monument \u2014 a memorial to the Duke in the shape of a naked statue of Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War, made from melted-down enemy cannon.<\/p>\n<p>Opposite Apsley House is Wellington Arch, which originally supported a colossal statue of Wellington. The statue was considered so over-the-top that it was replaced with a chariot.<\/p>\n<p>Step inside the house and you\u2019re surrounded by Wellington\u2019s impossibly grand souvenirs of Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo.<\/p>\n<p>Standing in the staircase hall is a huge, naked statue of Napoleon by Antonio Canova. It\u2019s 11 ft tall \u2014 over twice the real height of Napoleon, who was only 5ft 2in.<\/p>\n<p>He stuffed it into storage but it was bought by the\u00a0British government from Louis XVIII in 1816 and presented to Wellington.<\/p>\n<p>A new display reveals the robes worn by the 1st Duke for three coronations \u2014 the mantel was worn by his descendant at this year\u2019s coronation. The current duke lives in the house today.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/29\/11\/78369533-12804375-Pictured_One_of_the_gems_on_display_at_Apsley_House_a_portrait_o-a-45_1701259027954.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Pictured: One of the gems on display at Apsley House, a portrait of Napoleon by Robert Lefevre<\/p>\n<h3>READ MORE: THE HISTORIC CUMBRIAN HALL THAT&#8217;S HOME TO ITEMS BELONGING TO NAPOLEON AND THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON<\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019ll also see Napoleon\u2019s Death Mask. The original was made of plaster, a direct impression of Napoleon\u2019s face when he died.<\/p>\n<p>This is a grand, bronze copy. You can see that Wellington even ate off Napoleon\u2019s 1812 S\u00e8vres china set, decorated in Egyptian style.<\/p>\n<p>It was commissioned by Napoleon for his wife, the Empress Jos\u00e9phine, and given to the Duke in 1818 by Louis XVIII.<\/p>\n<p>Apsley House is also one of London\u2019s best unsung galleries.<\/p>\n<p>There are portraits of Wellington by Goya and Sir Thomas Lawrence.<\/p>\n<p>In 1813, at the Battle of Vitoria, Wellington took possession of an exceptional collection of Spanish paintings from the baggage train of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon\u2019s older brother.<\/p>\n<p>They include Dana\u00eb, one of the world\u2019s great Titians, and four Vel\u00e1zquez pictures, include a delightfully shifty portrait of Pope Innocent X.<\/p>\n<p>In the main hall, do see Robert Lef\u00e8vre\u2019s portrait of Jos\u00e9phine, bought by Wellington in 1851. The Empress invitingly points towards her exposed nipple. Presented with such a sublime vision, surely Napoleon must have bellowed, \u2018Yes tonight, Josephine!\u2019<\/p>\n<h3>TRAVEL FACTS<\/h3>\n<p>Apsley House is open Wed &#8211; Sun, 11am-5pm.\u00a0Adults \u00a311.30. Children \u00a36.80. Harry Mount is author of The Last Marchioness: A Portrait Of Lindy Dufferin.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/travel\/article-12804375\/Napoleon-unmasked-Ridley-Scotts-blockbuster-takes-liberties-plenty-real-treasures-uncover-victor-Duke-Wellingtons-old-London-home-visit.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Napoleon unmasked: Ridley Scott&#8217;s blockbuster takes liberties, but there are plenty of real treasures to uncover at his victor the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Napoleon film takes liberties but this house shows emperor&amp;apos;s true past - uklevitrasupport.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uklevitrasupport.com\/travel\/napoleon-film-takes-liberties-but-this-house-shows-emperors-true-past\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Napoleon film takes liberties but this house shows emperor&amp;apos;s true past - 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