Napoleon’s era paper I

Hints about analysis of paintings Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ: The Supper at Beaucaire This scene depicts an event that occurred at the beginning of Bonaparte's career, when he was still a young captain. He was responsible for conveying powder intended for soldiers of the Army of Italy, in the middle of the federalist insurrection of Midi. On 28 July 1793, he arrived in Beaucaire at the house of Mr. Renaudet, pharmacist, and at night he dined at an inn with four merchants who had come to a fair. It was after this meal he wrote a dialogue text entitled The Supper at Beaucaire, in which he made a Republican profession of faith, trying to convince his interlocutors the need of the Revolution.

BOUCHOT François (1800 - 1842), General Bonaparte at the Conseil des Cinq-Cents at Saint-Cloud, 10 November, 1799, Versailles, Musée National du Château This, the best-known representation of the coup d'etat, was a commission by king Louis-Philippe for the Musée Historique de Versailles, an institution founded in 1837 with the aim of fostering national reconciliation. The painting shows the critical moment when Bonaparte, shouted down by the Conseil des Cinq-Cents, jostled and threatened, is finally forced out of the audience chamber by some grenadiers. A military intervention thus became necessary in order to begin the parliamentary coup d'etat. That the work was exhibited at the Salon of 1840, the year of the ‘Retour des Cendres' (when 's corpse was repatriated from to ), gives evidence for the resurgence of the Napoleonic legend during the .

DAVID Jacques Louis (1748-1825), Napoleon in his study in the Tuileries Palace, Washington, National Gallery of Art Totally unlike traditional portraits of sovereigns in their robes of state, this standing portrait is a realist allegory of the emperor's civilian activities. Napoleon is wearing the blue uniform (with white lapels) of a Colonel of the Grenadiers à pied de la Garde, normally worn on Sundays, the green Chasseurs à cheval uniform being for daily use. He is in the trademark stance, his right hand is thrust inside his waistcoat. The candles are burned down, the clock shows four in the morning, his pen and paper are thrown down on the desk, everything is designed to imply that he has just spent all night working on the Code Civil. Dawn is rising and the emperor is preparing to go and review his troops. The picture's message is clear: the military leader is also a powerful statesman, administrator and legislator, whose capacity for work is unparalleled.

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DAVID Jacques Louis (1748-1825), The sacre or coronation of the Emperor Napoleon I Paris, Musée du Louvre An ambitious composition representing the coronation, which took place on 2 December, 1804, in Notre-Dame cathedral, this canvas took three years of detailed work to complete. David, who had in 1804 received the title of «Premier Peintre de l'Empereur», created a monumental group portrait in which everything conspires to push the viewer's attention towards the central scene. It is in fact the coronation of Josephine, not that of Napoleon, which is the subject of the painting. The harmony of the composition is remarkable, with the figures set either side of the large central gold cross. The huge size of the work (six metres tall by ten metres wide) made it possible to indulge in the remarkable luxury of painting identifying features for each character – even for Madame Mère, who though absent from the ceremony nevertheless dominates the foreground of tribune! In expressing his satisfaction for the painting, Napoleon is said to have remarked: "This is not painting; you walk in this work".

GERARD François (1770-1837), , 2 December, 1805 Versailles, Musée National du Château Commissioned to commemorate the Grande Armée's most famous exploit and exhibited at the Salon of 1810, this gigantic canvas was originally destined for the ceiling of the chamber in which the Conseil d'Etat met. The subject is the solemn moment of victory, with General Rapp presenting to an Olympian Napoleon the standards taken from the enemy. The composition, although broad and balanced, is nonetheless complicated (indeed almost too much so), and in it Gérard reveals himself to be at the limits of his ability as a history painter. That being said, the ‘Sun of Austerlitz' almost supernaturally fills the scene, perfectly matching the symbolic character of the date, ‘2 December', within the Napoleonic legend.

GROS Antoine-Jean (Baron) (1771-1835), Napoleon visiting the battlefield of Eylau, 9 February, 1807, Paris, Musée du Louvre Eylau was made the subject of a competition in March 1807, less than a month after the terrible battle which resulted in more than 50,000 French and Russian victims. Whilst underlining the French victory, the principal purpose of the winning picture was to express Napoleon's emotions in the face of such carnage. "If all the kings of the earth could view such a spectacle, they would be less keen on wars and conquest", the emperor is said to have declared. Gros, the winner of the competition, here in this picture reached the summit of his art, elevating history painting to a level never equalled, before or since. Under a leaden sky, his face washed out but marked with immense pity, Napoleon crosses the battlefield dotted with corpses. Set against the dark silhouette of Murat, the personification of the pitiless warrior, the emperor is the embodiment of humanity and compassion. Here for the first time victory's dark side, the other side of the coin, is painted in all its cruel reality.

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GERARD François (1770-1837), Marie-Louise, Empress of the French, and the Roi de Rome, Versailles, Musée National du Château Known to his contemporaries as «the painter of kings and the king of painters', Gérard was the official portrait painter of Napoleon, the imperial family and the grand dignitaries of the First Empire. This specialisation won him honours in abundance. Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1802, ‘Premier Peintre' for the Empress Josephine in 1806, Professor at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1811, Member of the Institute in 1812, he also led a brilliant career after the fall of the Empire when he became ‘Premier Peintre' for Louis XVIII in 1817. Placing himself within the tradition of the great court portrait painters, Gérard painted official portraits which, particularly in his female portraits, were frequently ‘softened' or deformalized. Indeed, the grace of his draughtsmanship, the richness of the colours, and the background, clearly evocative of the social status of the sitter, all conspire to give a sense of intimacy, bringing the viewer closer.

MEISSONIER Ernest (1815-1891), The Campagne de , 1814 Paris, Musée d'Orsay Whilst a fruitful source of inspiration for the Romantics, the Napoleonic epic was no less influential upon Academic painters. Meissonier's work, one of the artistic highlights of the Second Empire and the Third Republic, is ample witness. Though born only a few months before Waterloo, Meissonier was greatly interested by Napoleon ("How many times I have dreamt of the emperor!" he was heard to remark) and he sketched out a plan for a ‘Napoleonic cycle' comprising five major dates: "1796", "1807", "1810", "1814" and "1815". Only "1807" and "1814" were ever finished – although he did complete two other paintings related to the cycle, namely, "1805" and "1806". Meissonier perfectly summed up the painting here in the following words: "The Campagne de France. Heavy sky, ground churned up, staff battered, army exhausted. The emperor goes ever onwards, mounted on his white horse. It is not so much the defeat of the armies but the attitude of Napoleon I in this critical time which is important".

VERNET Horace (1789-1863), Napoleon on his deathbed ,Private collection In his youth, Horace Vernet was soaked in the Napoleonic epic and its dreams of glory, and following in the family tradition he very soon chose a career as a history painter. During the Restoration, his studio was a haven for those nostalgic for the emperor, and he too revealed his own fervent admiration for Napoleon in his paintings, which themselves in fact contributed to the propagation of the legend. This small picture, moving in its simplicity, concentrates on the dead emperor's face. The laurel wreath is the only obvious sign that this is not so much posthumous homage but rather a painting of glorification.

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