March 29, 2024

REMINDER: Free Admission to VMFA Napoleon Exhibit Through September 3

Commonwealth of Virginia

Office of Governor Ralph S. Northam

June 12, 2018

Dear State Employees: 

I am pleased to announce that state employees can receive free admission to Napoleon: Power and Splendor, an international loan exhibition on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) through Sept. 3, 2018. Admission to VMFA’s permanent collection is free 365 days of the year but some special exhibitions, such as Napoleon, are ticketed.

This immersive exhibition showcases more than 200 works of art, most of which have never before been shown in the United States. The exhibition’s innovative design takes visitors on a tour through an imagined palace inhabited by Napoleon and his family. Through the decorative objects and artworks on display, Napoleon: Power and Splendor reveals how members of the Imperial Household—a network of 3,500 employees—helped to create Napoleon Bonaparte’s identity as a self-titled Emperor, fueling the propaganda machine that modernized and legitimized his reign in the wake of the French Revolution.

We are lucky to have the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the Commonwealth. In addition to its world-class permanent collection, VMFA has a long history of bringing important international traveling exhibitions to Virginia. This summer, you and your families can view some of the greatest treasures of France right here in Richmond.

Conceived, produced and circulated by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, with the participation of the Musée National du Château de Fontainebleau and the exceptional support of Mobilier national de France, Napoleon: Power and Splendor includes works from the Château de Fontainebleau, the Louvre, the Musée de l’Armée in Paris and other world-class collections.

To claim your free tickets (one per employee), you must present your employee identification cards at VMFA’s Visitor Services desk. Family memberships are also available to state employees at a discounted price of $50.

Regular ticket prices for Napoleon are $16 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $10 for college students and children ages 7–17. Tickets are free for VMFA members and children ages 6 and younger. Visitors can reserve tickets by phone at (804) 340-1405.  For additional information, visit the VMFA website at www.vmfa.museum.

I hope you and your families will take advantage of this special cultural benefit.

Sincerely,

Governor Ralph Northam