Album of Watercolors by Marie Louise
46 watercolors painted by Marie Louise between 1812, when she was still Empress of the French, and 1820, when she had already become Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla
Watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia CaseFondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise's passion for watercolor painting finds expression in a series of sheets she painted throughout her life and often contained within refined albums with elegant Moroccan leather bindings and golden impressions, as in this case.
Watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia CoverFondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (October 1812)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
All the sheets are in fact dated, signed and accompanied by an explanatory title of the subject represented: this allows them to be precisely traced back to the period and place where they were made.
Empire Period
Marie Louise in November 1812.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (December 1812)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in December 1812.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (January 1813)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in January 1813.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (February 1813)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in February 1813.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (April 1813)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in April 1813.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (June 1813)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in June 1813.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (July 1813)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in July 1813.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (February 1814)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in February 1814.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (February 1814)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
View of the shape of the Cherbourg basin. Marie Louise in February 1814.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (27th July 1814)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise Aix in Savoy on July 27, 1814.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (August 1814)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
The hunting castle in the Montmorency valley. Marie Louise in August 1814.
Waiting for Parma
From the French views and the places he had the opportunity to visit during the imperial phase, we move on to the places of Switzerland where the Habsburg spent the summer of 1814.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (June 1815)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in June 1815.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (June 1815)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Designed by Molitor. Marie Louise in June 1815.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (August 1815)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Agstein. Drawn in August 1815. Marie Louise.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (October 1815)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Designed by Molitor. Marie Louise in October 1815.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (October 1815)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Subject taken from Matilda's novel. Marie Louise in October 1815.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (January 1816)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Persenburg. In January 1816. Marie Louise.
Ducal Period
We then reach the views of Venice known for the first time in 1816.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (August 1816)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
to the places of her new duchy, of which she drew remarkable snapshots (above all, the glimpse of the Pilotta taken from the garden palace or the view of the square in front of her ducal residence)
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (September 1816)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
View of the Salute Church in Venice. In September 1816. Marie Louise.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (September 1816)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (September 1816)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Dianthus Chinensis. Calendula officinalis. In September 1816. Marie Louise.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (October 1817)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in October 1817.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (February 1818)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Bossons Glacier. Marie Louise in February 1818.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (April 1818)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
The Piazza del Palazzo in Parma. Marie Louise in April 1818.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (June 1818)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Vicofertile. Marie Louise in June 1818.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (1818)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
and finally to the castles of Tyrol, Carinthia and Austria in general, beloved places of her native land.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (June 1819)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
View of the Castle of Tirolo. Marie Louise in June 1819.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (July 1819)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Drauburg Castle in Carinthia. Marie Louise in July 1819.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (November 1819)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Marie Louise in November 1819.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (March 1820)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
View of Rauhenstein Castle near Baden. Marie Louise in March 1820.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (March 1820)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
The subjects chosen allow to understand the interests and passions of Marie Louise: the predilection for landscape views, for troubadour and courtly love subjects, as well as for botanical themes; the technical expertise and faithful precision of details are a constant in all her works, some of which were copied by other painters.
A page of the watercolor album owned by Maria Luigia (May 1820)Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi
Lovely. Marie Louise in May 1820.
Texts by Francesca Sandrini, director of the Glauco Lombardi Museum Foundation
