The last restored large-format painting by Eugène Delacroix has finally returned to the Pompei red walls of the Salle Mollien at the Musée du Louvre. Since 2019, the Louvre has been restoring the king of the Romantic movement's paintings.

Last week, the fifth and final from the master of color was revealed. The Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders, April 12, 1204. Before the restoration, the painting was very dark. The architectural background of the city and the Bosphorus has almost disappeared under multiple layers of varnish.

Last restored in 1948, the most recent restoration included strengthening the canvas and its edges, as well as a full cleaning of the pictorial layer.

In this episode, we go into the history of the commission, the actual event of 1204, and what the painting means.

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The jewels of the French Crown were never just glittering ornaments. They were symbols of power, legitimacy, dynasty, and empire. For centuries, they adorned kings, queens, emperors, and empresses, surviving revolution, theft, exile, and war. But after the fall of Napoleon III in 1870, the new Republic feared that these treasures represented something even more dangerous: the possibility that France might once again embrace a monarchy.

In this episode, we uncover the extraordinary story of the 1887 auction of the French Crown Jewels, a sale that shattered centuries of history in the name of politics. From the bloody aftermath of the Paris Commune to the heated debates inside the National Assembly, the Republic set out to erase the symbols of royal power forever. Historic crowns were melted down, imperial settings destroyed, and priceless jewels scattered across Europe and America into the hands of royalty, Gilded Age millionaires, and legendary jewelers like Tiffany & Co. and Garrard.

We’ll step inside the packed Salle des États at the Louvre, once Napoleon III’s throne room, transformed into the most exclusive auction Paris had ever seen. We’ll follow the jewels themselves: the Regent Diamond, the emerald tiara of Madame Royale, Eugénie’s pearl tiara, the dazzling Grand Corsage Bow Brooch, and the infamous reliquary brooch containing Mazarin diamonds once worn by Louis XIV’s court.

This episode also traces the incredible journeys of the jewels that survived, the pieces painstakingly recovered by the Louvre over the last century, and the devastating 2025 theft that once again thrust the Crown Jewels into headlines around the world. Some pieces returned home after more than a hundred years in exile. Others may now be lost forever.

The 1887 sale was meant to destroy the memory of the monarchy in France. Instead, it became one of the greatest cultural tragedies in French history.

Welcome to the story of the jewels France tried to erase.

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On May 13, 1610, after finally giving in, Henri IV watched his wife, Marie de Medici, be crowned as the queen of France in the Basilique Saint Denis.

The next day, his life would end

In this week's episode, we look at the tragic end of the beloved king of France. With twists and turns that include his skull, which may have been found three hundred years after he died, and where you can find him in Paris.

For more info and photos, check ClaudineHemingway.com

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