Number 17

Rufus Massa, former Prince Honoré III’s podesta, former magistrate of the Italian republics of Genoa and Lucques, commentator of the 18th century, legislator reformer, was 50 year-old when the French Revolution drove him to start a political career, first as a deputy at the “Convention nationale” and later, as Mayor of Menton. (full text in French)

This study was, at first, published in 1925, and written by Léon-Honoré Labande (1867-1939), a great historian from Monaco. This text, which cannot be find in its original version, is published again in order to complete the articles dedicated to Jacques de Matignon in the previous issues of Annales monégasques. Relying on a correspondence, the author talks about the expedition in Spain in 1719. (full text in French)

Louis Bréa was a painter from the 15th and 16th centuries. He was born in Nice and known for his huge religious works, frescos and altarpieces that he mostly created in Nice, in the Genoa region and in the Ligurian Riviera. Some of his works are kept in the Cathedral of Monaco such as an altarpiece of Saint-Nicholas and the “Pietà des Pénitents Blancs”. (full text in French)

This short study, which is lavishly illustrated by pictures from that time, completes some previous articles published in the Annales monégasques (n°7, 8 and 14) regarding the Second World War in Monaco. The author talks about the extent of the military deployment around Monaco from 1939 to 1945, as well as the operations which took place in Villefranche-Peille-Roquebrune. (full text in French)

The Hôtel Matignon, located 57 rue de Varenne, is nowadays the French Prime Minister’s residence. However, the luxurious house has been for nearly a century (1725-1804) the princes Grimaldi’s property, and a large part of its fittings are dated back to Jacques I of Monaco, formerly named Jacques de Goyon-Matignon. After the French Revolution, the hotel was turned into a diplomatic, judicial and politic house. (full text in French)