Napoleon Bonaparte's hat returns to display after over a century

Napoleon Bonaparte's iconic bicorne hat, a symbol of his final years, has returned to public view for the first time in over a century. The hat, which accompanied the emperor during his exile on the island of Saint Helena, is now exhibited at the Condé Museum in Chantilly, north of Paris.

This black hat, adorned with a small revolutionary cockade, is one of more than 100 previously unseen items featured in the exhibition "From Naples to Chantilly: The Collections of Queen Caroline Murat." The exhibition focuses on the extensive collections of Murat, Napoleon's younger sister and the queen consort of Naples and Sicily from 1808 to 1815.

Caroline Murat, known as the "queen of the arts" for her patronage of fine arts, never resided in Chantilly. However, her collections were acquired in the 19th century by the Duke Henri of Orléans, the owner of the castle and son of the last king of France. The museum's director, Mathieu Deldicque, confirmed that the hat has been part of Murat's collections since its last public display in 1904, after which it was stored in the museum's archives.

"We have verified its authenticity and discovered that it was part of Carolina Murat's collections, so we are going to show it to the public and reveal its entire history, as well as all the research we have carried out," Deldicque stated. The exhibition, running until October 4, aims to highlight Murat's innovative taste and her significant role in promoting art in Naples during the early 19th century, creating a dialogue between her collections and the museum's permanent holdings.

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We have verified its authenticity and discovered that it was part of Carolina Murat's collections, so we are going to show it to the public and reveal its entire history, as well as all the research we have carried out.