Datei:Ruggieri Elémens De Pyrotechnie 1811 Plate 27 b1071419 028 tif n583xv797.tiff

English: Ruggieri, Claude-Fortuné. “Plate 27.” In Elémens De Pyrotechnie. Paris: France, 1811.

Plate 27: Final firework display at the celebration of the marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise at the residence of Princess Pauline Borghèse, the Palais de Neuilly, on 14 June 1810

Plate 27. A drawing representing the final firework fired on the occasion of the marriage of Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress at the home of Her Highness the Princess of Borghèse, at her Neuilly Palace, the 14 June 1810

Napoleon Bonaparte married his second wife Marie Louise in a series of ceremonies, first by proxy in Vienna on 10 March 1810, then twice in Paris, a civil ceremony on 1 April and a religious ceremony the following day. The wedding was celebrated at the Palais de Neuilly, the residence of Napoleon's sister Pauline, the Princess Borghèse, on 14 June. The finale of the celebration was this pyrotechnic set piece designed by the architect Pierre Bénard.

Fireworks involving the temple of Hymen were a repeated theme. For instance, a display featuring the temple of Hymen was used for the marriage of Leopold I and Margaret Theresa in 1666. A temple of Hymen was featured in the fireworks display for the marriage of Louis XV's daughter Louise Elizabeth to Philip, the infante of Spain, on the Pont Neuf in 1739. Also Claude-Fortuné Ruggieri's father created a pyrotechnic temple of Hymen for the marriage of Louise XVI and Marie Antoinette in 1771, which ended in disaster.