Political objects in motion across 19th-century Europe

Studies on the forms of political mobilisation in the early 19th century have revealed the proliferation of objects and visual and material markers of various kinds, which between the Napoleonic age and the 1848 revolutionary turning point tended to characterise European political activism and to mark political and/or patriotic affiliations. In particular, this chapter focuses on objects linked to central figures in political-military events of the early 19th century, starting with Napoleon Bonaparte. These figures were at the centre of a process of spectacularisation of politics and construction of celebrity status, which was evident throughout Europe in the reproduction of their images in everyday objects. The chapter also reflects on the relationship between the political life of objects and their mobility from a theoretical and methodological perspective. It highlights how the material dimension of politics contributed to the construction of languages and practices which travelled beyond national borders and connected different contexts.