Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Napoleon Crowning Himself
Jacques Louis David French
Not on view
This compositional study shows that David fully understood the picture’s essential purpose: like the ceremony itself, it was meant to buttress Napoleon’s claim to authority. Merging documentary and propaganda, the image presents the new sociopolitical order in the best possible light, with all the luxurious trappings of past regimes.
The seated pope looks on weakly while Napoleon, with a brash confidence, crowns himself. It was only when the canvas was nearly done that the decision was made to replace this striking motif with a less provocative action, one which had followed moments later: Napoleon placing a second crown on his wife Josephine’s head.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
