Empire style

Empire style
	The Arc de Triomphe of the Place de l'Étoile, one of the most famous examples of Empire architecture, commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon I
Years active	1800–1815
Location	French Consulate; First French Empire;
Major figures	Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine; Charles Percier;
Influences	Consulate style; Directoire style;
Influenced	Biedermeier; Egyptian Revival; Greek Revival; Late-Federal; Regency;

The Empire style (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃.piːʁ], style Empire) is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 during the Consulate and the First French Empire periods, although its life span lasted until the late-1820s. From France it spread into much of Europe and the United States.^[1]

The Empire style originated in and takes its name from the rule of the Emperor Napoleon I in the First French Empire, when it was intended to idealize Napoleon's leadership and the French state. The previous fashionable style in France had been the Directoire style, a more austere and minimalist form of Neoclassicism that replaced the Louis XVI style, and the new Empire style brought a full return to ostentatious richness. The style corresponds somewhat to the Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, Federal style in the United States, and the Regency style in Britain.

^ Gontar, Cybele (1 October 2004). "Empire Style, 1800–1815". metmuseum.org. Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 18 September 2022. Courts across Europe adopted the Empire style, especially in Russia, where it became a staple. In Germany and Austria, it coexisted with the gentler Biedermeier associated with modest domestic interiors. Charles Percier (1764–1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine (1762–1853) were the two most influential figures in the field of Empire decoration and furnishing. Official architects to the court of Napoleon, their main responsibility was the renovation of the various royal residences. Their Recueil de décorations intérieures (1812) was an essential handbook of the Empire style.

[1] Gontar, Cybele (1 October 2004). "Empire Style, 1800–1815". metmuseum.org. Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 18 September 2022. Courts across Europe adopted the Empire style, especially in Russia, where it became a staple. In Germany and Austria, it coexisted with the gentler Biedermeier associated with modest domestic interiors. Charles Percier (1764–1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine (1762–1853) were the two most influential figures in the field of Empire decoration and furnishing. Official architects to the court of Napoleon, their main responsibility was the renovation of the various royal residences. Their Recueil de décorations intérieures (1812) was an essential handbook of the Empire style.

[1]