Madame la Comtesse de Castiglione et Napoléon III ou Le bal aux Tuileries le mardi 29 janvier 1856

Original ink drawing signed and dated by Charles Robert, titled "Madame la Comtesse de Castiglione et Napoléon III ou Le bal aux Tuileries le mardi 29 janvier 1856".
This drawing immortalizes the historic meeting of the 19-year-old Countess de Castiglione with Emperor Napoleon III at a ball given by his cousin Princess Mathilde. Invested by Cavour with a delicate diplomatic mission, the Countess came to Paris with the aim of seducing the Emperor and making him sympathetic to the Piedmontese cause and thus convert him to the idea of a unified Italy. She had a famed affair with the Emperor, which strengthened ties between France and Italy before coming to an end, as Italian carbonari made an attempt on the Emperor's life the following year.
Aesthetic representation of the early days of this Italian Mata Hari as ambassador and spy to the French imperial court.