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In the Napoleonic era Bosio portrayed the imperial family in full-length statues and busts - of Napoléon and Josephine, as well as the emperor's second wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and his stepdaughter Queen Hortense of Holland. Under the Bourbon restoration, he continued to sculpt portrays of rulers. King Louis-Philippe's obsession with royal iconography ensured that there would be abundant images of himself and his wife, Queen Marie-Amélie (1782-1866), for posterity.
Her beak-like nose and elaborate curls are the queen's identifiable features. Seen in her late fifties, she carries herself with the haughty dignity of her rank, having been a princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. A stylish silk turban worn at a rakish angle sets off her austere face.
The bust was commissioned by the king in 1837, and the first version was exhibited at the Salon of 1839. The king later ordered three replicas from Bosio, one of these is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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