In the autumn of 1810 Canova was invited to Paris to paint the portrait of Napoleon's new wife, Maria Luigia of Habsburg: the artist's diaries record the pose for the creation of the clay model live. Upon returning to Rome, the great sculptor immediately prepared a marble bust and began to work on a large statue - first studying the effect of the composition through some clay sketches - which depicted the sovereign as the personification of Concord, solemnly seated in throne, dressed in the ancient style, with a royal diadem, scepter and patera (a small dish that the ancients used in religious ceremonies): the fusion between the austere classical nobility of the figure and the speaking immediacy of the portrait, between erudite archaeological inspiration and affectionate realistic stroke. The statue was already ready in January 1814, but the dramatic collapse of the Napoleonic empire prevented its transport to Paris. Only in 1817, having now become Duchess of Parma and Piacenza, Maria Luigia managed to recover the sculpture left in Rome in the sculptor's studio, deciding to arrange it in the palace of Colorno, where she remained until 1848, when her heir, Archduke Leopoldo of Habsburg, donated it to the city, so that it would be placed in the niche of the Gallery that the sovereign herself had set up in the Palazzo della Pilotta, where it can still be admired today.