German Leadership

Art lovers.

Mussolini and Hitler contemplate Canova's famous (and, in its time, famously risqué) semi-nude statue of Pauline Murat (born Bonaparte), Queen of Naples and sister of The Man Himself. Pauline was a true sister; she advised her husband, Joachim Murat, to betray Napoleon in 1814, in the interests of saving their mutual position. She also was a bit of a live wire, and must have been a bit of a handful even for a cavalry hero like Murat. When this statue was first shown, a shocked court lady asked whether she had been at all uncomfortable posing for such a revealing portrait. "Not at all," replied Pauline, "the studio was very well heated." Yours from the Spanish Quarter, JR.