The lavish art and lifestyle of the aristocracy, so violently interrupted by the fall of the monarchy in summer 1792, made a tentative reappearance after the death of Robespierre two years later before experiencing a real renaissance. Once Napoleon had declared himself Emperor, he never ceased in his quest to make Paris into the showcase of the civilized world. There was no member of the imperial family, no marshal of the Empire, no bourgeois gentilhomme who did not aspire to living in one of the great houses left abandoned by the flight of their former owners. These nouveaux riches invented a new way of living, and they entrusted its architectural framework to such talented men as Percier, Fontaine and Berthault. The elegant decorative sensibility of the period reflected a nostalgia for the treasures of ancient Rome and Egypt and resulted in the creation of stunning, opulent interiors to match equally lavish facades. "Empire Style" is a gorgeous photographic...