The Imperial Prince By Mayer & Pierson C. 1860

The Little Imperial Prince at 4 years old Business card format 5.5 x 8.7 cm Napoleon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte, better known as the Imperial Prince, was born on March 16, 1856 in Paris. He is the only son of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. "This photograph was placed by his mother in the birthplace of Napoleon I, his great-uncle, during the visit to the Bonaparte house made by the sovereigns on September 14, 1860. On this occasion, the Empress hung the photo of her son under an engraving representing Bonaparte at Arcole. This gesture was highly symbolic: the Empress was installing the image of her son in the temple of the Napoleonic myth, reweaving the genealogy of the Bonapartes back to the imperial couple, anchoring her own destiny in the island that had seen the birth of the dynasty…" National Museum of the Bonaparte House Mayer (1817-1895) and Pierson (1822-1913) are the founders of the company "Mayer frères et Pierson" whose object is the production and sale of any reproduction using the daguerreotype, photography or any other method that would be subsequently discovered". Installed 3 boulevard des Capucines in Paris, the workshop became the official photographic studio of the emperor in 1856. The partners became photographers of the emperor in July 1862. They will produce many portraits of the family of Napoleon but also of the aristocracy and Parisian celebrities like Sarah Bernhardt. Their reputation crosses borders and becomes European.
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