La costruzione del mito di Napoleone a Milano e in Lombardia. L’apporto delle feste politiche (1802-1814)

Consensus-building through political propaganda and celebrations in Milan and Lombardy, as in France, played a prominent role in the development of Bonaparte’s myth. On the basis of a vast, previously neglected evidence, this paper examines the contents and tones of the growing body of praise and flattery aimed at the first consul and then emperor during the public rejoicings and celebrations of the Italian Republic (1802-1805) and of the Kingdom of Italy (1805-1814). It also aims to investigate how, from the government’s perspective, Bonaparte’s myth came to exert a relevant influence upon the creation of authentic attachment to the new political regime.