How Two Dynasties’ Destinies Intertwined and Created Modern-Day Monaco

A new exhibition at Grimaldi Forum reveals how a chance encounter in 1815 sparked the Principality’s transformation from a marginalised outpost into a sovereign jewel of the Mediterranean

On the chilly night of March 1, 1815, two men’s paths crossed. The encounter lasted mere hours, yet it would bind two dynasties across a century. Napoleon Bonaparte made his audacious return from exile in Elba with only 800 men when he met Hereditary Prince Honoré V of Monaco on the beach at Golfe-Juan. The prince, who had once served in Napoleon’s armies, was travelling back from Paris to Monaco when he was detained and brought to Napoleon’s bivouac. And that encounter would forever alter the history of Monaco.

This summer, the Grimaldi Forum Monaco presents Monaco et les Napoléon(s) – Destins croisés, an exhibition that sheds the spotlight on one of European history’s most fascinating and least understood relationships and illuminates how these two families never stopped playing with history’s pendulum throughout the 19th century, and the subsequent development of an insignificant and small patch of coastal land on the Riviera into the world’s most exclusive address.

Nearly 200 works – a third of which has never been displayed in public – bear witness to the story that has laid the foundation of modern Monaco. Beyond the artifacts, this exhibition is designed as an immersive experience. The scenography is accompanied by AI-generated films that let the visitor be part of the unfolding story, and holograms that allow them to try on Napoleon’s trademark bicorne or Joséphine’s tiara. Short videos reveal the inner workings of several mechanical art objects, highlighting the unique expertise of the masters of the time. A 360-degree immersion whisks the viewer into the atmosphere of a ball at the Tuileries Palace, complete with 19^th century music and the classic fragrances of the epoch. 

The exhibition is on through 31 August.

To grasp the depth and significance of this collection, a quick dive in the annals of history is a good start.

The story begins with erasure. Revolutionary France had annexed Monaco in 1793, and the Grimaldi princes found themselves reduced to French citizens. The future Prince Honoré V served as a conscript in Napoleon’s armies, distinguishing himself at Hohenlinden and Eylau, earning the Legion of Honour and captain’s stripes.

In 1809, Honoré was appointed equerry to Empress Joséphine, taking charge of her stables at Malmaison. The relationship transcended mere political convenience. Following the imperial divorce due to Joséphine’s infertility, Honoré remained in her service until 1811.

Pierre Branda, the exhibition’s chief curator and director of the Fondation Napoléon, describes this period as foundational: “Without the Napoleons, the principality of today simply would not exist.”

The exhibition’s scenography reflects this complex history through an inspired architectural concept. Designed around the geometry of the Legion of Honor, the layout echoes Monaco’s own Order of Saint-Charles, created by Prince Charles III in 1858 as a deliberate homage to Napoleon’s decoration. Seven intimate rooms radiate from a central axis, each space distinguished by colour palettes that evoke specific historical moments and personalities.

Room 1: The Night Encounter

The exhibition opens in a midnight blue room that recreates the night of the momentous meeting between prince and emperor. Among descriptive artifacts and contemporaneous paintings, Honoré’s uniform, heavy with decorations, sits in a vitrine like evidence of that night when two dynasties’ fates mingled.

Room 2: The Grimaldis in the Napoleon Era

This military blue room steps back to the late 18^th and early 19^th century to show Napoleon’s rise from artillery officer to master of Europe, while the Grimaldi family learns the revolutionary lesson: adapt or die. Princess Françoise-Thérèse, who made no concessions, met the guillotine in 1794. Her father-in-law, Prince Honoré III made the strategic decision to trade sovereignty for survival, and the principality for French citizenship. The artifacts on display range from Marshal Lannes’ field writing desk, gifted by Napoleon to presentation snuffboxes that prove even revolution had its luxury goods.

Room 3: Honoré V at Joséphine’s Court

The Green Salon takes the visitor to the beginning of the 19^th century and to the bucolic gardens of Empress Joséphine. She had established Malmaison at an alternative court, and it was here that her and Napoleon’s love story played out. The couple scandalized Europe when she collected rare birds and bankrupted the imperial treasury on shoes, and he wrote her poetry that would make a romance novelist blush. And in the middle of it all, Prince Honoré V – the grandson of the sovereign who gave up the principality for survival – who as equerry to the empress managed her stables, although it was rumored that this was not his only important role in the Empress’s life. 

Among the many richly ornate objects on display, none is as resplendent as the animated singing-bird clock from the Iakobachvili collection, a fusion of technical mastery and poetic vision that defined Malmaison’s refined atmosphere. 

Room 4: Imperial Splendor

This hall sparkles with the opulence of two courts – Napoleon III’s Second Empire and Prince Charles III’s Monaco. When Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was elected President of the French Republic in December 1848, the ambitious and pragmatic Monegasque prince cultivated personal relationships with him and Empress Eugénie that transcended mere diplomatic protocol. These bonds of personal affection would prove politically decisive.

The silverware bearing the Grimaldi coat of arms, crafted by the prestigious Odiot atelier, stands out as evidence of elegance maintained through political upheaval.

Room 5: Diplomatic Relations

The adjacent Red Room focused on Franco-Monegasque diplomatic discussions and political negotiations. In 1861, Napoleon III and Charles III signed the treaty that shaped Monaco’s present day territory. It also regained full sovereignty recognition. Charles could thus create the Order of Saint-Charles, modernize the law, have a Monegasque anthem composed, and issue currency and stamps bearing his likeness.

The sovereign ordinance of 1866 creating Monte-Carlo represents the legal foundation of Monaco’s modern identity.When the railway connection opened in 1868, it rapidly transformed Monaco from isolated principality to accessible playground for Europe’s elite, enabling the tourism that to this day has remained one of the economic cornerstones of the principality. 

Room 6: Family Connection

An intimate purple space explores the deep personal ties between the Grimaldi and Beauharnais families. When hereditary prince Albert met Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie, they took a liking to the young man, and Eugenie became Albert’s “godmother of the heart”. The imperial couple also played matchmaker, introducing him to Marie-Victoire Hamilton. She was the granddaughter of Stéphanie de Beauharnais and a relation of Napoleon I’s. Although the marriage failed soon after, it produced a son who would one day ascend to the Monegasque throne as Louis II and who is the grandfather of today’s Sovereign Prince Albert II.

Victoria’s grandmother Stéphanie de Beauharnais was a cousin to Napoleon III, the adopted daughter of Napoleon I; and an adopted niece of Empress Joséphine. An imperial princess and grand duchess in Germany, she was one of the most prominent figures at German and French courts and held her rank with distinction.

Empress Eugenie, who had taken young prince Albert under her wings, was the wife and later widow of Napoleon III. Famous throughout Europe for her elegance, intellect, and charity work, she was also a student of female biographies, including that of Empress Joséphine, her husband’s grandmother. By the time of her passing at age 94, she had decisively shaped the history of both the Grimaldi and the de Beauharnais houses. 

Room 7: Monaco’s Renaissance

The final azure-blue room is dedicated to Prince Albert I, and this is where data from the history book become concrete and tangible. A passionate scientist and explorer, he is best known today as the founder of Monaco’s Oceanographic Museum. But before dedicating himself to his studies, he trained in the Spanish Navy and fought in the French Navy in the Franco-Prussian war. When he ascended to the throne, he pledged to modernize Monaco, focusing on science and the arts. Thanks to him, Monaco became a cultural hub and “little Paris.” His descendants followed in his footsteps, most notably his great-grandson Prince Rainier III who attracted the world of finance and luxury, and the late Rainier’s son, Prince Albert II, the current Sovereign who is determined to make Monaco a global competence center of environmental science. On display in this room are charts, photographs, and specimens that represent the “Prince Savant” and helped establish Monaco’s reputation beyond gaming tables.

The extraordinary collection owes much to the passion of David and Mikhail Iakobachvili, whose twenty-year hunt for imperial treasures has yielded a third of the show’s highlights, rare decorative arts and artefacts spanning four centuries that transform this from a standard historical display into an unprecedented gathering of museum-quality rarities. The exhibition also features original graphics by Svetlana Churaeva bringing previously unrepresented episodes from these crossed destinies to visual life.

Presented under the high patronage of Prince Albert II, the exhibition affirms dynastic continuity and Monaco’s evolution from Napoleonic client state to modern sovereign nation. His involvement reflects more than ceremonial endorsement. It signals an active engagement by the current ruling family with the legacy explored in this exhibition. Contemporary resonance is further underscored by the role of Louis Ducruet, son of Princess Stéphanie and nephew of Prince Albert II, who serves as the exhibition’s ambassador. A committed history enthusiast, Ducruet played a central role in the exhibition’s creation.

The broader implications reach beyond Monaco’s borders. The exhibition highlights how small states navigate great power politics through personal relationships, cultural diplomacy, and strategic vision. Monaco’s approach to sovereignty, through geographic leverage, cultivated patronage, and cultural innovation, remains instructive at a time when global pressures increasingly challenge the autonomy of microstates.

The exhibition continues through 31 August, running in parallel with the Grimaldi Forum’s presentation of Couleurs !, featuring masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou.

“Having long been fascinated by Napoleon I, I have always been intrigued by the contrasting role played by the Bonaparte dynasty in the Principality’s destiny. Under Napoleon I, Monaco, annexed by France in 1793, disappeared from the map of Europe. Under Napoleon III, the Principality, which regained its sovereignty after the fall of the First Empire, underwent an astonishing transformation that ensured its continued existence to this day. Wishing to create an exhibition that would reflect these paradoxes, these links that were sometimes close yet little known, I had the idea of bringing together a major collector, David Iakobachvili, with historians specializing in the two Empires and Monaco. The Fondation Napoléon and the Archives of the Prince’s Palace responded favourably.

Placed under the high patronage of my uncle, H.S.H. Prince Albert II, the living fresco that resulted from their joint work covers the entire 19th century. I hope it will enable the public to better understand what was happening at that time between Monaco and France, between the Bonapartes and my Grimaldi ancestors.“

— Louis Ducruet, Exhibition Ambassador 

VISITOR INFORMATION

Monaco et les Napoléon(s) : Destins croisés

Grimaldi Forum Monaco 

Opening hours: Daily from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, late nights: Thursdays until 10:00 PM

Admission: Full price €14 (FREE for under 18s), concessions available

General contact: +33 6 30 07 20 43 | info@mcdesarts.com

Box Office opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 12pm to 7pm

Box office contact / reservations : +377 99 99 3000 | ticket@grimaldiforum.com

CONTACT DETAILS

Grimaldi Forum Monaco 
Diaghilev du Grimaldi Forum Monaco
10, Avenue Princesse Grace
98000 Monaco

All photos Copyright : @rhino.production and @picturesandyou06, unless otherwise marked

Lead image Buste de Napoléon 1er | Atelier d’Antonio Canova | Marbre with Paire de vases Médicis « Bivouac de cosaques » and « Campement d’arabes » | Manufacture de Sèvres, 1813 | Porcelaine | 87 x 32 cm | Musées nationaux des Châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau, dépôt du Musée national du château de Compiègne

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