Canes with hidden shadows

Title	[Napoleon and Louis XVI]
Place	France
Date	First third of the 19th century
Register	00788 (Napoleon), 00789 (Louis XVI)

An example of how shadows were used for other purposes, apart from performing stories, are what is known as hidden or seditious shadows. They are images that are created from the form of certain inconsequential objects or everyday use, and that depict prohibited items, persecuted themes or outlawed characters. This is what we find in the shadow cast by the ivory grips of these canes: the profiles of King Louis XVI of France and Napoleon Bonaparte. Against the background of revolutionary France and during Napoleon's exile, supporters of these rulers could make their support evident under favourable circumstances or alternatively keep it secret in adverse situations.

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