Lot 384: Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse , Corbeil 1784 - 1844 Paris Portrait of Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, King of Rome (1811-1832) oil on canvas, in a painted oval

signed lower right Mauzaisse oil on canvas, in a painted oval

measurements note 12 3/4 by 9 3/4 in.; 32.4 by 24.8 cm.

Only son of Emperor Napoleon I and Marie-Louise of Austria, he was styled King of Rome at birth. Three years later, the French empire to which he was heir collapsed, and he was taken by the empress to Blois in 1814. Napoleon abdicated twice in favour of his son, but Marie-Louise refused to leave him in France, taking him to her father's court in Austria. He remained in Austria, where he was awarded the title of Duke of Reichstadt, until his death by tuberculosis in 1832. He was also known as L'Aiglon or The Eaglet. Edmond Rostand wrote a play about his life and Serbian composer Petar Stojanovic composed an operetta which premiered in Vienna in the 1920s.