Point Breeze, the Estate of Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte at Bordentown, New Jersey
Charles B. Lawrence
1817–20
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
68.6 × 92.7 cm (27 × 36 1/2 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
69538
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Although based in Philadelphia, landscape and portrait painter Charles Lawrence was born near Bordentown, New Jersey, the site of the idyllic scene pictured here. Point Breeze was the name of the country estate owned by Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte (the older brother of the French emperor Napoleon I), who fled to America after his brother’s fall from power. Under a warm, golden light, Napoleon’s homestead presides atop a hill, with a stone bridge, lake, curving paths, gently sloping hills, and buco...