The original portrait was lost in a fire in the Tuileries Palace, in Paris, in 1871, but its known by the large number of copies made by other painters during the emperor's reign.

[1][2] Winterhalter had the reputation of being a leading portrait for the Royalty of Europe when he was commissioned to create two paintings of the emperor and his wife, Eugénie de Montijo, in 1852.

He wears the regalia of the Grand Master of the Legion of Honour, especially the chain and red ribbon.

Between 1855 and 1870, 540 versions of this portrait were made by various painters to decorate official buildings in France.

[3][4] Two studies for the portraits of Napoleon III and Eugénie de Montijo, made by Winterhalter and his studio in 1853, were discovered in two private collections, respectively in Italy and in Denmark, and auctioned at Christie's on 2 October 2013.