THE TWO MOST FAMOUS NAMES emanating from the French Caribbean during the years of the Revolution and Napoleonic wars were Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie (better known as the Empress Joséphine) and Toussaint Louverture, a former slave turned revolutionary leader who fought for Haitian independence.
There were others too, including one of Toussaint’s brothers-in-arms, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the (mixedrace) general and father of the novelist Alexandre. In the world of French art, at this febrile time, there was also a figure of importance, who has since
