Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

French artists were encouraged to glorify Napoleon I (1769–1821) after he was crowned emperor on December 2, 1804. Ingres, then in his mid-twenties and a student of Jacques-Louis David, rose to the challenge. Rather than relying upon Baroque traditions of royal portraiture, Ingres turned to archaic modes of imperial representation. He depicted the emperor seated on a magnificent throne, holding a scepter (topped by a statuette of the medieval emperor Charlemagne), an ivory hand of justice (which had purportedly belonged to Charlemagne), and Charlemagne's own sword. These and other historical items were used by Napoleon to link himself with great French leaders of the past. It is not known whether Ingres received a commission for this work or painted it on speculation, but it was purchased by the French legislature (Corps Législatif) just prior to its appearance at the Salon of 1806.

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (French, 1780–1867)
Napoleon I on His Imperial Throne, 1806
Oil on canvas; 102 x 63 3/4 in. (259 x 162 cm)
Musée de l'Armée, Paris (5420)

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