The Phoebus Foundation

The portrait miniature of Josephine de Beauharnais that takes centre stage in this Phoebus Focus is a tiny gem of an object with a tale to tell: of friendship driven by art, of a passionate Napoleon, and of a woman who loved beauty.

In this Phoebus portrait, intimacy and grandeur intertwine. For the story of the empress demands a very close look. Love, sex, beauty, money, glory, and the inevitable fall: all that, and so much more, is Josephine.