"FEAST OF MAY 23, DAY OF THE CORONATION OF SM THE EMPEROR AS KING OF ITALY ". Placard by Cougnet father and son, printers in Nice, detailing the program of the festivities in the department of the Alpes maritimes. 48 x 37 cm. A.B.E. First Empire period (1805). In the cathedral of Milan, on May 23, 1805, the Emperor Napoleon I, proclaimed King of Italy on March 18, by girding the crown of the ancient kings of Lombardy, was self-crowned by pronouncing in Italian the ritual formula "God gave it to me, beware of who touches it."

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