Xavier Mader

La Galerie Mythologique was a set of papers designed to accommodate different decorating arrangements. The original set featured 12 panels depicting scenes from Greek and Roman mythology. These motifs reflect continued interest in classical decoration, a specialty of Dufour’s designer, Xavier Mader.

In the late 1700s, the revolutionaries who overthrew the French monarchy adopted Greek and Roman references to promote their democratic ideals. By 1814, when these papers were created, Napoleon Bonaparte—France’s self-appointed emperor—had been forced into exile after the empire he tried to build crumbled. Napoleon had looked to the classical world as a model for his own leadership, at one point declaring “I am a Roman emperor.” Inventories of Château de Malmaison, his country home, document the presence of wallpaper.