France celebrates the Rothschilds
The French government might be cracking down on the rich with the introduction of a 75% income tax for the highest earners, but that isn’t stopping the country celebrating one of France’s greatest – and wealthiest – families.
The French government might be cracking down on the rich with the introduction of a 75% income tax for the highest earners, but that isn’t stopping the country celebrating one of France’s greatest – and wealthiest – families.
A new exhibition at the Biblioteque Nationale de France in Paris charts the incredible influence of the Rothschild family in France. The exhibition begins with the story of James de Rothschild, the youngest of the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild – the man who started it all. James was one of the five sons of Amschel sent off to European cities to perpetuate the family fortune. He did that rather well in Paris, with the Rothschild bank underpinning the foundations of modern banking in the country.
The exhibition looks at the many faces of the family—the bankers, the railway magnates, the vintners, the philanthropists, medical researchers and property developers. It also documents their legendarily opulent lifestyle.
Their stories are told through the family’s art works, books, illustrations, photographs and documents from the family’s and the French national archive. The exhibition runs until 10 February.
