Alfred-Emilien Le  comte de Nieuerkerke (1811-1892)

Among his titles were: Directeur general des musees impcriaux [Director-general of the Imperial Museums]and Intendant des beaux-arts de la Maison de l'Empereur [Superintendent of Fine Arts Liason of the house of the Emperor] . He was also President ol'the Admissions jury and Vice-President of the International Awards Jury at the 1855 Universal Exposition of Art. The most powerful individual in the world of' art during the Second Empire, he was nicknamed "Castor'" (beaver) by art students because it is an animal that builds with its tail. This was a sly reference to his liaison with Princess Mathilde. his only known qualification for any of the above appointments. Originally a legitimist [i.e. a support of the Bourbon kings, not Napoleon and his heirs] and supporter of the comte de Chambord [the next in line in the Bourbon line of kings], Nieuwerkerke's taste in art was as murky as his politics. An amateur sculptor, himself, he managed, during his administration, to mistreat virtually every major artist of the period, from the Barbizon painters through Cezanne, including Ingres. Delacroix and Courbet. He collected weaponry. Opportunist. ambitious, ruthless. he earned -- and merited -- the dislike of' most of his contemporaries.

Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Alfred Emilien, Comte de Nieuwerkerke (1852)