Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie was born in Martinique in 1763 and, after her husband was guillotined, she became the wife of Napoléon Bonaparte and the Empress of the French. In her honor, this statue was erected in 1859 at the La Savane Park. Notice she is holding a rose, the name she preferred as a girl while living on a nearby sugar plantation. Also notice she is headless. This vandalism occurred in 1991 because of a bitter resentment for her encouraging the reinstatement of slavery in 1802. The red paint “blood” stains were added later.