Entrevue de Napoléon et du Pape Pie VII, le 26 novembre 1804.
The meeting of Napoleon and Pope Pius VII near the obelisk called St Herem cross at Fontainebleau forest (after the painting by Demarne).
Porcelain painter: Jean-Charles Develly. 1839.

Napoleon wished to be crowned by the Pope and officially invited the pontiff to come and consecrate him at Notre-Dame. After long hesitations, Pius VII finally accepted. He hoped that his coming to France would allow him to obtain the modification of the Organic Articles, added unilaterally by Bonaparte to the Concordat of 1801, and the restitution of the legations (Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì and Ravenna) lost to the Roman Republic.
Acclaimed throughout his journey through France, the Pope arrived at Fontainebleau on 25 November 1804. Napoleon went to meet him, at the Croix de Saint-Herem, in the middle of the forest. According to witnesses, the Pope had to walk through mud to meet his host. The next day, a great feast was held in the Pope’s honour at the chateau de Fontainebleau.