page_title: Empress Joséphine
section_title: Sculpture
hierarchical_section_title: Empress Joséphine / Art Patronage / Sculpture
caption_attribution_description: Dancer with her hands on her hips, by Antonio Canova. Sculpture completed 1812. Commissioned by Josephine Beauharnais. Acquired by Alexander I of Russia in 1816. Now at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.
context_page_description: Joséphine Bonaparte was the Empress consort of the French as the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I. She is often called Joséphine de Beauharnais, a name not used during her lifetime.
  Throughout Joséphine's lifetime she was a great lover of the arts. She worked closely with sculptors, painters and interior decorators to establish a unique Consular style at the Château de Malmaison that is well known. She helped establish the popularity of the Empire and Consular styles. Through her knowledge she became, in her time, one of the leading collectors of different forms of art, such as sculpture and painting. The Château de Malmaison was noted for its magnificent rose garden, which she supervised closely, owing to her passionate interest in roses, collected from all over the world.
  Her marriage to Napoleon was her second; her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she was imprisoned in the Carmes Prison until five days after his execution. Her two children by Beauharnais became significant to royal lineage. Through her daughter Hortense, she was the maternal grandmother of Napoleon III.
context_section_description: Over her lifetime Josephine commissioned four major pieces from the Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova. The Empress was given a copy of Canova's work Psyche and Cupid, which was originally promised to Colonel John Campbell but because of unforeseen circumstances it was gifted to Josephine. She would commission Canova to create a sculpture and the result would be Dancer with Hands on Hips. The work commissioned in 1802 but was not finished until 1812, Josephine allowed him to create on his own terms, which were based on the classics but with a more relaxed and joyful appearance. He would create several sculptures based on dancing. Dancer with Hands on Hips was praised by the art community because it was not based on any specific ancient sculpture, but with a classical spin, making it a completely original sculpture.
  Josephine would commission Canova again for another sculpture called Paris. The work's plaster cast was completed in 1807 but the marble statue was not finished until 1812. arriving in Malmaison in 1813 a year before Josephine's death. The final sculpture that the Empress would commission was The Three Graces. This work would not be completed until after Josephine's death in 1816. All four works were eventually sold to Czar Alexander of Russia.
caption: Antonio Canova Dancer with Her Hands on her Hips, 1812
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