Joachim Murat (1767–1815), Marshal of the Empire Shoes detail

This portrait, painted in 1805 by François Gérard, depicts Joachim Murat in the ceremonial uniform of the Marshals of the Empire, whose attire was defined by order of 29th Messidor Year XII (July 18, 1804). He wears the braid, badge, and collar of the Legion of Honor, as well as the badge of the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle. Strictly regulated in theory, this attire was embellished with a wide leather belt with motifs combining various emblems and allegories that were personal to Murat, whose desire to distinguish himself through his clothing has remained legendary.
Born on March 25, 1767, to an innkeeper father, Murat was admitted to the Constitutional Guard of King Louis XVI in 1792, from which he resigned shortly after. On 13 Vendémiaire Year IV, Bonaparte tasked him with leading 40 cannons to the Tuileries in order to quell the royalist uprising that threatened the Convention. Head aide-de-camp to Bonaparte in 1796, then brigadier general, he was appointed divisional general on July 25, 1799 on the battlefield of Aboukir. A key figure in the coup d'état on 18 Brumaire, following his marriage on January 20, 1800 to Caroline, Napoleon Bonaparte's younger sister, Murat became part of the Premier Consul's intimate circle and was entrusted with State security missions: commanding the first military division of Paris, governing the Paris military, commanding the Consular Guard. His bravery at Marengo and his role in signing the Armistice of Foligno armistice with the King of Naples on February 6, 1801, were steps leading to his involvement in Italian affairs. He was granted the rank of Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and then the rank of Grand Admiral in 1805. Considered to be the imperial army's best cavalryman, he was showered with honors and distinguished himself and his talents in several military operations.