On December 2, 1804, the great and good of Paris gathered in Notre-Dame Cathedral to witness the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte and the birth of the French Empire. It’s a moment immortalized (and cunningly manipulated) in Jacques-Louis David’s monumental painting—and one that was top of mind at the launch of a virtual reality production centered on the life of the Little Corporal.
Two hundred and twenty years on from snatching the crown from Pope Pius VII and crowning himself (as well as his beloved Josephine), many aspects of Napoleon’s world linger in roads, sewer systems, legal codes, and higher education. Despite this legacy, military history seems the focus of “Napoleon, the Immersive Saga,” the V.R. experience that debuted at Paris’s Bank of France, an institution Napoleon himself established in 1800, one he would eventually grant a monopoly to print the French Franc.
Visitors can chat with Napoleon. Photo: courtesy Sandora.
It’s the first project from Sandora, a Paris-based company founded in 2024 that aims to create immersive experiences with a cultural emphasis. Here, it has worked with a committee of historians to make sure its product is accurate. In the nearly half hour-long experience, a computer-generated Napoleon guides visitors through some of the main events of his life—and of the early 19th century. Alongside the experience is a feature called “Bonjour Napoleon,” from Jumbo Mana, a French tech startup, which allows the visitor to converse with the Emperor courtesy of a customized A.I. generator.
“We aimed to reveal to the public how Napoleon himself crafted his own legend,” said Pierre Branda, a historian who has published widely on Napoleon. “Every element of the narrative was carefully studied and validated by the committee.”
Visitors can stand aboard an accurate model of a 19th-century ship. Photo: courtesy Sandora.
The visitor meets Napoleon at the low ebb of his long and turbulent career. The setting is a rainy afternoon on St. Helena, the speck of land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to which Britain banished Napoleon after defeating him at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 (he would die on the island in 1821). Perhaps understandably given the isolation, Napoleon is happy for the company and to reminisce.
Designed to accommodate up to 10 people in a roughly 200-square-foot space, “Napoleon, the Immersive Saga” is free form, allowing visitors to wander and engage with the experience as they wish. Highlights include traveling to St. Helena by boat, standing amid the fog at the Battle of Austerlitz, and soaring above the Vendôme Column, which Napoleon had built as his very own Trajan Column to commemorate the 1805 battle.
Visitors can experience 1805’s Battle of Austerlitz. Photo: courtesy Sandora.
“We have taken on the triple challenge of achieving technical, artistic, and historical excellence to create the first immersive experience on Napoleon,” said Sandora founder Marin de Saint Chamas. “The intensity of the recreated events and the close connection with a universally known figure make this production both captivating and educational.”
The V.R. experience is due to travel to Brussels, Belgium, and Lille, France, in 2025, before returning to Paris.
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
