Chapter Five

The Arts under Napoleon

In 1799 Jacques-Louis David organized a special exhibi­ and off, to complete. During this time, his own political
tion to present to the public The Sabine Women (FIC . 5 -1), a situation had changed dramatically. In 1794 the ruling
monumental painting on a Classical theme . The exhibi­ Jacobin party, of which he had been a prominent mem­
tion, for which he charged an entrance fee, was held in a ber, had been defeated, and David was thrown in jail.
meeting room in the Louvre, which the government had While he was imprisoned, Maximilien de Robespierre
placed at the artist's disposal. Measuring nearly 13 feet by (1758-1794), president of the Jacobin-controlled National
18, The Sabine Women occupied one long wall of the room. Convention, was executed. His virtual dictatorship was
Against the opposite wall, David had placed a large mir­ replaced by a representative government, led by five exec­
ror, in which visitors saw themselves reflected against the utive Directors.
backdrop of the painting. Becoming one with the painted After Robespierre's IIreign of terror,1I an eleven-month
figures, even if only for a moment, must have given them period in which 17,000 people were guillotined, the Direc­
a heightened sense of the actuality of the painted scene. tory (1795-9) was a period of healing and reconciliation.
Although paying exhibitions of contemporary art were David's The Sabine Women was intended as a metaphor for
common in Britain in the late eighteenth century (see page this process . The painting represents a scene from the leg­
79), they were unprecedented in France. The Academy endary beginnings of Rome, recounted by the Creek writer
had traditionally prohibited such initiatives, believing that Plutarch. Romulus, the founder of Rome , organized a large
commerce would taint the ideals of the artistic profession. feast, to which he invited the neighboring clan of the
Since this institution had been abolished in 1793, David Sabines. At the end of the feast, the Romans, who had a
did not break any existing rules, but he was severely crit­ shortage of females, abducted the Sabine women and made
icized by those who felt that it was wrong to put a price them their wives . Three years later the Sabines attacked
on seeing art. Rome in revenge. The battle would have been disastrous
For David, charging a fee was a necessity. He had painted for both sides, had not the Sabine women intervened .
The Sabine Women without a commission or the prospect of Throwing themselves and their children between the com­
a buyer. The painting had taken him nearly five years, on batants, they called for reconciliation . They showed the
men that the children were a compelling reason to make
peace, for they were both Roman and Sabine.
Jacques-Louis David, The Coronat/011 of Napoleon /11 the Cathedral oj David's painting shows the opposing parties against the
NOire-Dame, 1805- 7. (D e ta il of FIG . 5-12 ) backdrop of Rome. Dominating the fray are the Roman

The Arts under Napoleon 111

 ."

5-1 Jacques-Louis David, The Sabine Women, 1799. Oil on canvas, 12'8" x 17'2" (3.85 x 5.2} m) Musee du Louvre , Paris.

leader Romulus, on the right, and the Sabine leader Tatius, the French people abandoned the pursuit of the lofty, puri­
on the left. The two are preparing to duel, when the beau­ tanical ideals of the revolution for the more "humble"
tiful Hersilia, the daughter ofTatius and the wife of Romulus, concerns of safety and happiness .
intervenes, stretching out her arms as if to push them apart.
A powerful and dynamic figure, Hersilia seems to embody
the idea of peace-not as the mere absence of war, but as The Rise of Napoleon
something worth struggling for. Hersilia is not the only
woman to throw herself into the melee. All around her, In spite of a promising beginning, the Directory was ulti­
women and children stand in front of the combatants to mately unable to deal with the many problems that plagued
block them; some grab the men's legs to prevent them the republic. In t 799, the year in which David exhibited
from fighting. The Sabine Women, a parliamentary coup ended the gov­
David's The Sabine Women has often been compared with ernment. The uprising was led by one of the Directors,
The Oath of the Horatii, exhibited fifteen years earlier. Both with the military backing of a young general named Napoleon
paintings show events from Roman history, involving a Bonaparte (1769-1821). A new government, called the
war between the Romans and a neighboring clan. While Consulate, was introduced. It called for a stronger, more
The Oath of tbe Horatii extols such "masculine" virtues as patri­ effective executive branch comprising three consuls, the
otism, courage, and honor, however, The Sabine Women seems first of whom held most of the power. Within days of the
to celebrate the more "feminine" concerns of family, peace, coup, Napoleon had emerged as a leader, becoming First
and collective harmony. Emphasizing women's essential Consul in 1800, and again in t 802, when he was granted
roles of life givers and nurturers, the painting suggests that this position for life by a national referendum. Still not sat­
peace and love, not war, hatred, and destruction, guaran­ isfied, in t 804 Napoleon assumed the title of Emperor, an
tee the sUlvival of human civilization. In so doing, it reflects action that ensured that his power would eventually be
the changed socio-political climate of the DirectOlY, when inherited by his son.

112 The Arts under Napolcon

 As First Consul , and later as Emperor, Napoleon had modern-day Belgium and exiled again after less than four
two main concerns . First, he intended to reform completely months-a period known as the Hundred Days.
the administrative duties of the French state . This involved
reorganizing national and regional governments , drawing
up a civil legal system (the so-called Napoleonic code), Vivant Denon and the Napoleon Museum
and revamping all civil services , including police , mail
delivery, tax collection , and public education . Having risen from complete obscurity to the height of
Second, Napoleon sought to establish a French hege­ pO\ver, Napoleon was the quintessential upstart , who felt
mony throughout the world. When he came to power, the need to bolster his persona and his regime through
France \vas still involved in a war, begun by the revolu­ vast amounts of propaganda. Thus he turned to the arts ,
tionary government , against an anti-French coalition of not because he felt a particular affinity for them but because
several European countries. Through a series of military he realized their enormous promotional potential. Dur­
conquests , and some clever diplomacy, Napoleon ended ing Napoleon's reign, numerous buildings and monuments
this war with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Peace was not emblematic of his power were constructed. j\/\any canvases
his final goal, however; rather, he saw the treaty as a means were painted showing his likeness, or presenting glorified
of expanding France's power. I n the hope of creating mar­ images of his government and military exploits.
kets for French goods abroad , he intended to establish While Napoleon took an intense interest in these proj­
colonies and trading posts around the world . This brought ects, he delegated most of the details to Dominique Vivant
him into renewed conflict with several European powers, Denon (1747-1825) . The Emperor had known Denon , an
which eventually resulted in war and Napoleon's conquest amateur artist and collector, since his early years as a gen­
of the greater part of western and central Europe. eral. In 1799, when Napoleon had led an army to conquer
At the height of his power, in 181 O/ Napoleon ruled Egypt for France, Denon had joined the expedition as an
over all the countries on the western coast of Europe, from "artist-reporter," charged with the visual recording of aspects
the Netherlands in the north to the Iberian peninsula in of the campaign .
the south , as well as over Italy, Austria, and most of mod­ It was to Denon that Napoleon entrusted the creation
ern-day Germany and Poland . Napoleon's hegemony came of the most spectacular monument to his military might,
to an end in 1814, when, attacked on all fronts, France the Napoleon Museum . Housed in the Louvre, one of the
capitulated and the emperor was officially deposed . Exiled former royal palaces in Paris, this museum comprised the
to the Mediterranean island of Elba, he attempted a royal collections, confiscated after the revolution, in addi­
comeback in 1815 . But he was defeated at Waterloo in tion to hundreds, if not thousands, of art works pillaged

Napoleonic Battles

Napoleon's fame as a general was linked to a series of Battle of Eylau, February 7- 8, 1807. The battle was fought
military victories, the names of which, to this day, have a ring against the Russians and the Prussians in East Prussia,
of success. Their reputation was vastly enhanced by their some twenty miles south of present-day Kaliningrad
glorification through architectural monuments, sculptures, (Russia) and resulted in a stalemate. Each army lost
and paintings, which lent them lasting renown. Because of between 18,000 and 25,000 men.
the enormous propaganda that surrounded his victories,
Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo became an event of Battle of Wagram, July 5- 6, 1809. Victory over the Austrians,
worldwide importance. which led to the Treaty of Schonbrunn.

Battle of Marengo, June 14, 1800. Victory over the Austrians Battle of Borodino, September 7, 1812. Battle against the
in northern Italy. Russians, in which Napoleon won by a narrow margin.
The Russian army was able to regroup, however, and
Battle of Ulm, September 25-0ctober 20, 1805. Major eventually managed to drive the French out of Russia.
strategic triumph over the Austrians in Germany.
Battle of Waterloo, June 18,1815. Napoleon's final battle,
Battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805. Also called the fought in modern-day Belgium against the combined
Battle of the Three Emperors, since it involved, besides forces of the international coalition that had formed
Napoleon, the emperors of Austria and Russia. against him. Napoleon's defeat ended the Hundred
Napoleon's greatest victory, because his 68,000 troops Days of his restoration after his escape from exile
defeated almost 90,000 Russians and Austrians. on Elba.

Battle of Jena, October 14, 1806. Napoleon devastated the

Prussian army.

Vivant Denon and the Napoleon Mus eum 113

 5-2 Anonymous, Napoleon
Bonaparte Showi11g the Apollo
Belvedere to his Deputies, c. 1899 .
Etching with aquatint,
15 1/3 x 16" (39 x 4Icm ).
Bibliothe que Nationale ,
Department des Estampes et
de la Photographie, Paris.

5-3 (below ) Jacques

Gondouin and
Jean-Baptiste Lepere,
Ve ndome Column, 1806-11.
Bronze plaques on masonry core ,
he ight 130' (43.5 m )
Place Vendollle , Paris.

from the countries that Napoleon had conquered. At its

height, the museum contained the cream of European art,
including such famous Classical sculptures as the Apollo
Belvedere and the Laocoon, and important Renaissance and
Baroque works. These included Raphael's Transfiguration (now
in the Vatican Pinacoteca, Rome), Paolo Veronese's Mar­
riage at Cana (still in the Louvre today), Jan and Hubert van
Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece (Church of St Bavo, Ghent), and
Peter Paul Rubens's famous triptychs The Raising of the Cross
and The Descent from the Cross (both in Antwerp Cathedral).
While contemporary visitors were awed by the living art
history lesson taught by the Napoleon Museum, Napoleon
himself used it to advertise the prestige and wealth that his
militalY conquests had brought to France. A contemporary
print shows Napoleon as First Consul, leading some visitors
through the museum (FIG. 5-2). Stopping at the Apollo Belvedere,
he proudly says: 'There it is, gentlemen, two million."

Napoleonic Public Monuments

To commemorate his military exploits, Napoleon initiated

several sculptural and architectural monuments in Paris . Per­
haps the most important of these was the Vendome
Column (FIG. 5-3), a 130-foot-high bronze column deco­
rated with a spiraling sculptural relief. The monument was
designed and executed by a team of architects and sculptors,
coordinated by Vivant Denon. The immediate occasion
for the column was Napoleon's famous victory at Auster­
litz, where , in 1805 , he had defeated the combined armies

114 The Arts under Napoleon

 of Austria and Russia (see Napoleonic Battles, page 113 ). The
bronze for the monument came from confiscated enemy
cannons. Originally called the Column of the Great Army,
it was erected in one of Paris's most famous squares , the
Place Vendome. The location was significant because here,
earlier, had stood an equestrian statue of Louis XVI , destroyed
by revolutionaries in 1792 .
The Vendome Column was inspired by Trajan's Column
in Rome ( FIC. 5-4 ), which commemorated the ancient
Roman Emperor Trajan's victory over the Oacians-a peo­
ple who lived in eastern Europe. Both columns were decorated
with reliefs depicting in each case the emperor's military
exploits and surmounted by his full-length portrait. like
Trajan , Napoleon was attired in Roman military dress .
Because of its assertive claim for imperial power, the
Vendome Column became one of the most contested mon­
uments of nineteenth-century Paris, particularly after the
defeat of Napoleon in 1815. With every new regime , the
column was altered until, during the Commune of 1871 ,
it was dismantled (see page 373 ) . Reconstructed some
years later, however, it can again be seen in Paris today.
The Vendome Column illustrates Napoleon's strong iden­
tification with the ancient Roman emperors. like them , he
saw himself as both a civic and a military leader. Moreover,
at the height of his power, he ruled over a territory that
roughly overlapped with the Roman Empire . Napoleon's
preoccupation with Roman imperialism explains his general
preference for Roman rather than Greek art. In addition to
the Vendome Column, two other monuments, initiated dur­
ing Napoleon's rule , emulate the architecture of imperial
5-4 Trajan's Column , 1 13 CEo Marble , heig ht 125' (3 8 1 m ) Ro me. Rome. The first was the Arc de Triomphe (FIC. 5-5), an enor-

5-5 Jean-Fran~ois Chalgrin,

Arc de Triomphe, 1806-36. Limestone ,
he ight 16 4' (50 m ). Place de I'Etoile ,
Pari s.

Napoleon ic Public M onum ents 115

5 -6 Alexandre-Pierre Vignon, C hurc h o f La M ade le ine , sOllth fro nt, 1807-45 . Place de la Made le in e , Pari s.

mous stone monument designed by the architectJean-Fran<;ois intended to wrest control of the Ottoman Empire from
Chalgrin ( 1739-1811) after the example of a Roman tri­ the British (see page 208 ). Although the Egyptian cam­
umphal arch. Standing at the intersection of five major roads , paign was a military failure, it led to an upsurge of interest
including the famous Champs Elysees, its placement was in Egypt, thanks in large part to the publications of artists
carefully calculated for maximum visual effect (for more on and scholars who had accompanied Napoleon on his cam­
this monument, see page 229). The other was a "Temple of paign. Vivant Denon , who had joined the expedition as a
Clory," to honor French soldiers. Designed by the architect recording artist , published his popular Voyages dansla Basse
Alexandre-Pierre Vignon ( 1763-1828 ), this building took et la Haute Egypte (Travels in Lower and Upper Egypt ) in
the form of a Roman temple , complete with the tall plat­ 1802. A more scienti fic a nd comprehensive Description
form and colossal , monolithic Corinthian columns typical d'Egypte (Description of Egypt) in twenty-one volumes was
of Roman religious architecture. Neither monument had published between 1809 and 1828 by a team of scholars
been completed at the time of Napoleon's fall. The arch working for Napoleon .
was finished in 1836, during the July Monarchy (see page The richly illustrated tomes resulting from the Egypt­
225 ). The would-be temple was completed according to its ian expeditions (FI C . 5-7) fo stered an interest in Egyptian
original design , and turned into a church , called La art among artists and desi g ners. The influence was felt
Madeleine (FIC. 5.6). most strongly in the decorative arts. Napoleon's residences
in the palaces of Compiegne , Saint-Cloud , and Malmai­
son (the last inhabited by his first wife , Josephine ) were
Empire Style furnished and decorated in a hybrid style , typical of th e
Empire period, containing both Classical and Egyptian
Napoleon's preference for ancient Roman art led to the elements . A washstand (FIC . 5-8 ) at Malmaison combines
so-called Empire style , often seen as the final phase of a Classical Roman tripod construction and stylized Creek
Neoclassicism . This style was indebted to monumental "palmette" motifs (on the pitcher and washbowl ) with
Roman architecture and sculpture, and also used elements Egyptian gilded bronze sphinxes. The use of luxurious
derived from Egyptian art. As a young general, in 1798, mate rials , including mahogany, gilde d bronze , and Sevres
Napoleon had led an expedition to Egypt which was porcelain, is also characteristic of the Empire style. The

116 The Arts tll1der Na poleo11

5 -7 (above) General \liew oj Pyramids and Sphinx, at
SI,lnset. Illustration in DescriptiOJl d'Egypte (vol v,
Antiqw'Ues, pi 8), 1822. Private Co llection , London .

5-8 Wash sta nd . Mahogany and gi lt bronze, with

Sevres porcelain pitc her a nd washbow l, 1802.
He ight II " (96 cm). !vlusee du C hateau de Ma lm a ison ,
Ru e il -Ma lm a ison, France.

Empire Style 117

washstand was kept in Empress Josephine's bedroom at More than any eighteenth-century ruler, Napoleon
Malmaison (FIC. 5-9), which exemplifies the Empire style appears to have understood the potential of the Salon as
in its solemn richness and the predominance of red and a vehicle for propaganda; nearly all of the paintings he
gold tones. Empire interiors such as this have, as one writer commissioned were exhibited there. It was a public forum
put it, "both the cold splendor of an Egyptian tomb and where he could "post" visual messages that reached the
the sumptuousness of the Byzantine." crowds of people who visited the exhibition. The Salon,
moreover, was fully covered by newspapers, which pub­
licized the event even to those who did not see the works
The Imperial Image in person. Once the Salon was over and the commissioned
works were returned to the state, they were frequently
Throughout his reign Napoleon commissioned a large installed in museums or public buildings for everyone to
number of paintings that were strategically planned to enjoy. Inexpensive print reproductions of the most famous
glorify his military exploits and to exalt his qualities of works were distributed throughout the Empire .
leader, administrator, and protector. It was part of his Ironically, the first heroic image of Napoleon was not
stated policy that art should treat subjects "of national commissioned by the great man himself but by King Charles
character," that is, subjects that extolled the French nation, IV of Spain (ruled 1788-1808), who intended Napoleon
of which he himself was firmly at the helm. Crossing the Alps at the Saint-Bernard Pass (FIC. 5- 10) for his

OPPOSITE
5-9 Louis-Martin Berthault,
Empress Jose phine's Bedroom,
c. 1810. Musee du Chateau de
Malmaison, Rue il-Malmaison.

5 - 10 Jacques-Louis David,
Napoleol1 CroSSil1g the Alps at the
Sail1t-Bcmard Pass, 1800-01. Oil
on canvas , 8'11" x 7'11" (272 x
2.41 111 ) Musee National du
Chateau de Versailles,Ye rsaill es.

The Imperial Inzage 119

gallery of portraits of great military leaders . Proud to be passes , including the treacherous Saint-Bernard pass. Such
included in that famous gallery, Napoleon immediate ly a feat had been accomplished only twice before in history,
ordered several copies for himself. He also demanded that once by the Carthaginian general Hannibal in 218 BCE and
he be painted "sitting calmly on a spirited horse ." The artist another time by the Frankish king, and later emperor,
entrusted with the portrait was no other than David, who Charlemagne , in 773 CEo To remind the viewer of these
had made a quick portrait sketch of Napoleon two years famous antecedents , Napoleon had David inscribe the
earlier, when the general had visited his studio . This turned names of Hannibal and Charlemagne on the rocks in the
out to be a lucky coincidence as Napoleon refused to sit foreground, together with his own .
for his portrait , because, as he said, "No on e inquires In David's portrait, Napoleon is poised on a rearing horse,
whether portraits of great men are likenesses . It is enough which he controls, flawlessly, with only one hand. The scene
if their genius lives on in them." is clearly contrived, since Napoleon is known to have crossed
The commission for Napoleon Crossing the Alps at the Sail1t­ the Alps on a mule . The motif of a ruler on a rearing horse
Bernard Pass was triggered by the general's celebrated victory had been introduced by the Venetian painter Tttian in the
in 1800 on the Marengo plain in northern Italy, whe re he late sixteenth century- It was perfected in the seventeenth
had crushed the Austrian army (see Napoleol1ic Battles, page century by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
113 ). Napoleon had led 28,000 men across several Alpine and the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez (1599-1660) .

5 - 1 1 Etienne-Marie Falconet,
Peter the Great, 1766-82 . Bronze
o n granite base, twice life-s ize .
D ece mbri sts' Square, St Pe te rsburg.

120 The Arts Wider Napoleol!

5-12 Jacques-Louis David, Th e Corollntioll of Na poleon in the Cathedral oj Notre-Dame, 1805-7. Oil o n canvas , 20'8" x 32' 1" (629 x 9.79 m ). Musee
du Louvre, Paris.

In these two artists' portraits of the Spanish monarch Philip Charlemagne had traveled to Rome to be crowned, Napoleon
IV (ruled 1621-65), the king's easy manipulation of a spir­ made Pius VII come to Paris . During the ceremony, in a
ited animal serves as a metaphor for his skilful control of final affront to papal dignity, he did not wait for the Pope
an unruly nation . to place the crown on his head, but impatiently took it
Napoleon undoubtedly had these portraits in mind from him and crowned himself. In David's first sketch of
when he ordered David to paint him "sitting calmly on a the coronation (FIG. 5-13), this moment is represented, no
spirited horse." He and David may also have recalled the doubt at Napoleon's request. The Emperor was later per­
famed "Bronze Horseman," the equestrian statue of Peter suaded that it would be more tactful to commemorate
the Great (FIG. 5-11 ), erected in St Petersburg by Falconet another episode, in which he placed the crown on the
(see p. 24) in the years 1766-82. In this sculpture, as in head of his wife, Josephine.
David's painting, Czar Peter and his horse scale a moun­ TIJe Coronatiol1 of Napoleon took almost three years to
tainous rock, demonstrating courage in the face of adversity. paint. Measuring some 20 feet by 30, it is composed of
While Peter the Great wears civilian clothes , however, more than one hundred life-size portraits, many of them
Napoleon is shown as a military leader, urging his soldiers full-length . The composition is carefully orchestrated to
on with his outstretched right arm. reflect each person's power and rank. It was thus a reflec­
On the strength of this portrait and on account of his tion of the actual ceremony, which had likewise been
reputation as one of the greatest living painters in Europe, planned according to the strictest protocol. The painting
David was appointed First Painter to the Emperor imme­ does not, however, represent the coronation exactly as it
diately after Napoleon assumed the title . His main happened. For instance, Napoleon's mother, Maria-Letizia ,
commission was to commemorate the crowning ceremony did not attend the ceremony, since she was angry with
with a huge painting (FIG. 5-12). The coronation of Napoleon Napoleon over his treatment of his younger brother Lucien.
and Josephine on December 2, 1804, was carefully planned Yet in David's painting she sits on a low balcony in the
by Napoleon. No less a figure than the Pope was to put center. Her presence was necessary in the official portrait,
the crown on his head. Thus he intended to create a his­ because the Emperor had everything to gain by empha­
toric link between his rule and that of Charlemagne, the sizing family unity.
first emperor o f France, who had been crowned by the Together with Napoleon, the Empress Josephine takes
Pope roughly one thousand years earlier. Yet, while center stage in the painting. Kneeling to receive her crown,

The Imperial Image 121

5-13 Jacques-Louis David, Perspective Study Jor the Coronation oj Napoleon, undated Pen c il , pen , and ink , 20'7" x 32'
(6 .29 x 9 .79 m ). Musee du Louvre , D e partement des Arts Graphiques , Paris .

she wears a gold-embroidered white dress with an enor­

mous red velvet train, studded with golden bees (Napoleon's
emblem ) and lined with ermine fur. The Emperor stands
on a platform so that, short as he is, he towers over the
archbishop of Paris, on his right , and over Pius VII, who
is seated behind him .
Upon its completion , The Coronation was exhibited at
the Salon of 1808 , where it was widely admired by the
public and by David's fellow artists, who placed a laurel
wreath underneath it. David had his share of critics as well,
many of them former revolutionaries who felt that the
artist had abandoned the revolutionary cause to become
a spineless courtier. What had happened to David, the rad­
ical painter of Brutus and of Marat? In truth, he was no
different from numerous other revolutionaries who had
enthusiastically welcomed Napoleon as the first outstanding
revolutionary leader, and who went along with him even
as he terminated the republic and assumed a power that
surpassed that of the former kings.
David was not the only painter harnessed to shaping
the Emperor's public image . Many of his contemporaries
became rivals for imperial commissions . David's student
Franc;ois Gerard ( 1770-1837), for instance, was commis­
sioned to paint Napoleon wearing his imperial robe, to be
distributed in painted and engraved copies throughout the
French empire ( FIG . 5-14). This recalled earlier portraits
from the ancien regime, such as the official portrait of the
5-14 Fran~ois Gerard, Nap oleon the Great. Repro du c ti o n of th e
"Sun King" Louis XIV (see FIG. 1-1) by Hyacinthe Rigaud ar tis t's o ffi c ial po rtrait, kn ow n in multipl e ve rs io ns. Eng raving by
( 1659- 1743 ) . Au gus te D es noy e rs. M usee du C hateau d e ]\'lalmai son , Rue il-Malmai so n.

122 Th e Arts tt11der Nap oleon

 Prud'hon, another contemporary, was commissioned in at the Salon of 1810, the year in which Napoleon married
1805 to paint a monumental portrait of Empress Josephine his second wife, Marie-Louise of Austria . Josephine is seated
Since he often took years to finish a painting,
(FIC. 5-15). on a mossy rock, presumably in the garden surrounding
the work was not completed until 1809, the year in which the chateau at Malmaison. She wears a high-waisted,
Napoleon decided to divorce his wife because she had not low-cut dress in the Empire fashion . A red cashmere
borne him any children. The portrait was thus not shown shawl protects her from the rock's damp coldness and

5-\5 Pierre Paul Prud'hon, Portrait oj Elllpress Josephine. \805- 9 . Oil on canvas , 8' x 5' \ 0" (2.44 x \ .79 m).
Musee du Louvre , Paris .

The Imperial Image 123

 1
5-16 Pierre Paul Prud'hon, The King of Rome SleePing, 1811. Oil on canvas , 18 / 8 x 22" (46 x 55.8 em ) Musee du Louvre , Paris.

strikes a bright note in a painting that shows mainly dark wife, Marie-Louise , in 1811 (FIG. 5-16) . Pronounced the
and muted colors . King of Rome at birth, the infant prince is shown sleeping
In the nineteenth century Josephine's pensive expres­ on a patch of grass, surrounded by plants and flowers and
sion and her pose, which echoes traditional allegories of illuminated by a radiant light. Although it looks surreal to
Melancholy, were attributed to the Empress's foreboding the modern observer, contemporary observers would have
of her divorce. While that is not impossible, it is also true noticed the painting's reference to the ancient myth of the
thatJosephine lived in a period when periodically to with­ foundation of Rome. According to this story, the goddess
draw from society for the purpose of quiet reflection was Rhea Silvia abandoned her twins Romulus and Remus to the
seen as a virtue. In the years 1776-8, the well-known French Wilderness, not knowing that Romulus would later become
philosopher and novelist Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) the first king of Rome . Many of the details of the portrait
had written a series of essays called The Reveries oj a Solitary have an allegorical meaning. The two gigantic fritillaries (a
Walker . Rousseau had hailed nature as a temporary escape plant sometimes called "crown imperial") above the Prince's
from human society and as a place conducive to medita­ knee signify his descent from two imperial houses, the French
tion, and he had made escapes into nature fashionable . It and the Austrian . The laurel in the background refers to
is possible that Josephine wished to have her portrait Napoleon himself. And the radiant glow, no doubt, is the
painted in the park for that reason. She may have wished divine light that will illuminate the Prince's life and rule .
to project an image of thoughtfulness. Of all the portraits of Napoleon and his family, perhaps
Prud'hon also received a commission to paint Napoleon's
long-desired heir, the imperial prince borne by his second
the most unusual one is the Portrait oj Napoleon on his Imperial
Throne (FIG. 5-17), painted by David's student Jean-Dominique
/

124 The Arts under Napoleon

5-17 Jean-Dominique Ingres,
Portrait oj Napoleon on his Imperial
Throne, Sa lo n of 1806 . Oil on ca nvas ,
8'9" x 5'3" (266 x 1.6 m). Musee de
l'Arm ee, Palais des Invalides , Paris.

5-18 Jan and Hubert van Eyck,

God the Father, top centra l
pan el of the Ghent Altarpiece, 1432.
O il o n panel , 6' 1 I " x 2'6" (2 .1 m x 80 cm )
Church of St Bavo, G he nt.

The Imperial Image 125

Ingres ( 1780-1867) and exhibited at the Salon of 1806. Antoine-Jean Gros and the Napoleonic Epic
This painting was not commissioned by the Emperor him­
self but was probably painted on the artist's own initiative, In addition to exalting the Emperor's image , Napoleonic
though it was bought by the French Legislature before it propaganda was also used to record his deeds. Napoleon,
had even been shown in the Salon . Dressed in a sumptuous forever the general, took enormous pride in his military
robe , the Emperor is seated on a gilded throne, the curved victories. He was mindful, however, that these were achieved
back of which forms a halo around his head. In his right at the cost of many lives so that images of war could eas­
hand he holds the golden scepter of Charlemagne; in his ily turn into negative propaganda . To avoid this, all war
left is the ivory hand of justice used by the French medieval paintings were carefully planned by his artistic advisors,
kings . His strictly frontal pose gives the painting an iconic so that Napoleon would appear both as a military genius
quality that has been compared with that of God the Father and as a humane leader, mindful of his soldiers.
in the famed Ghent Altarpiece (F1C . 5-18 ). That monumental Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835 ), a student of David ,
painting, by the fifteenth-century south Netherlandish artists became Napoleon's favorite artist when it came to record­
Jan van Eyck and Hubert van Eyck, was among the most ing his military exploits. Gros's Bonaparte Visiting the Plague
celebrated "stolen treasures" in the Napoleon Museum. By House at Jaffa (FIG. 5-19) was one of the most successful paint­
referring to this well-known work, Ingres-no doubt in an ings of the Salon of 1804, and launched the artist's career.
effort to please the Emperor-suggested that Napoleon was Upon his failed attempt to conquer Egypt, Napoleon and
a godlike figure , omnipotent and endowed with divine wis­ his generals had moved their armies to neighboring parts
dom. Ruler and judge, he embodied both legislative and of the Ottoman Empire (in present-day Israel and Syria).
executive powers. No other portrait of the Emperor so bla­ After a successful assault on Jaffa and the ruthless massacre
tantly exposed the position of absolute, superhuman monarch of its inhabitants (March 1799), a plague broke out among
that Napoleon had assumed in a country that only recently the French troops. On May 11 Napoleon and some of his
had rid itself of a centuries-old monarchy. staff visited the sick in the hospital. Eyewitness accounts

Antoine-Jean Gros, Bonaparte Visiting tl1e Plague Hou se at Jaffa, Salon of

5-1 9 1804. Oil on canvas, 17'5" x 23 '6" (5.32 x 7 .2 m).
Musee du Louvre, Pari s.

126 Th e Arts under Na po/eon

 5-20 Rembrandt van
Rijn, Christ Healing tl?e
Sick (" Hundred Cuilde rs
Prin t") , c. 16 50 . Etchin g,
drypoint a nd burin , 11 x
15 ~1 6" (27.8 x 38 .8 cm )
Re mbrandt HOLlse,
Amsterdam.

differ as to the purpose of the visit . According to some, Most of these sufferers are concentrated at the bottom of
Napoleon wanted to assess whether the soldiers should the painting, forming, as it were , a threshold of pathos
be transported or left to die in Jaffa . Others claim that the that the eye needs to cross before scanning the rest of the
general wanted to boost the morale of his troops . painting. In the lower left, a hooded figure sits hunched
It was important to Napoleon that the visit should be up in a pose of despair derived from Michelangelo's Last
seen in the most positive light, especially because of the Judgment in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. In the lower right,
negative press he had received for the Jaffa massacre . In a young cadet cradles the body of a dead comrade. Between
Bonaparte Visiting the Plague House at Jaffa the general stands them, the naked body of a weeping man draws a diago­
inside the courtyard of the hospital building with two of nal line that leads our eye up towards Napoleon, and to
his officers. While the latter are disgusted by the sight and the revolutionary flag that signals the glorious cause .
smell of the mortally ill , Napoleon has taken off his glove Gros continued to create powerful propaganda with his
and reaches out to touch one of the plague-stricken sol­ monumental The Battle oj Eylau (FIC . 5-21), shown at the
diers . Even though little was known about the transmission Salon of 1808. This painting commemorated a battle that
of contagious diseases at the time, this must have been took place in Russia on February 7-8 , 1807, between the
seen as a death-defying gesture. Napoleon appears like a forces of Russia and Prussia and those of France (see
holy healer whose compassionate touch brings consola­ Napoleonic Battles, page 113). Napoleon desperately needed
tion , possibly even a cure, to his faithful soldiers . Gros's some positive publicity for this battle, which had ended
painting recalls Re mbrandt's famous etching of Clnist in deadlock and cost as many as 50,000 lives . Again, he
Healing the Sick (the so-called "Hundred Guilders Print"; FIC. and his advisors decided to emphasize his humanity in the
5-20) of c. 1650, which was much admired at the time. wake of the bloodbath caused by his militalY ambitions .
The success of Gros's painting at the Salon of 1804 was Gros was asked not to paint the battle itself but its
due to the fact that it brought something new to history aftermath, when Napoleon, now Emperor, visited the bat­
painting. Not only did the painting depict a contempo­ tlefield to console his soldiers and to instruct those who
rary event rather than an episode from ancient history-still had the strength to attend to the wounds of their Russian
a novelty in France-but the drama of the work set it apart victims. Once again, Napoleon is represented as a saintly
from the work of David and his followers . Gros played up figure, who spreads sympathy across the battlefield to
the exotic setting, the Islamic courtyard with its impos­ warm and revive his soldiers . Gros has successfully cap­
ing arches and stained-glass windows , and the colorful tured the bleakness of a north Russian winter, with darkly
costumes of the Arabic hospital staff. He also emphasized dressed figures set against a drab backdrop of mist, mud,
the stark contrast between the dapper unifom1s of Napoleon and snow. Only a few red hats enliven this otherwise
and his officers and the pale, sickly bodies of the patients. gloomy picture.

Antoine-Jean Gros and the Napoleonic EPic 127

5-21 Antoine-Jean Gros, The Battle oj Eylau, Salon of 1808 . Oi l o n ca nvas , 17' I " x 25' 9" (5 .21 x 7 .84 m ) tvtusee du Louvre, Paris .

Gros received many more commissions for large-scale students belonged to several generations. The first gen­
pictures of battle scenes , and established an excellent rep­ eration entered his atelier in the early 1780s. This group
utation as a painter of Napoleonic propaganda. But he was included the "three Gs ," Gerard , Gros , and Anne-Louis
not alone . The Salons of the first decade of the nineteenth Girodet. All three of them eventually became David's rivals,
century were dominated by large-scale works commis­ competing with him for imperial commissions .
sioned by the imperial government and depicting episodes A second generation entered David's studio in the 1790s.
from Napoleon's campaigns. In addition, they showed Several of them began to rebel against the artist's strict
numerous smaller commissioned works that were aimed Neoclassical training. The most vocal group of dissenters
at showing off Napoleon's qualities as national leader and called th e mselves the "Primitives" or the Barbus (because
skilful administrator, as well as a solid family man. they sported barbes, or beards ). Instea d of studying Clas­
sical Gree k and Roman art and the art of the H igh
Renaissance masters, they sought inspiration in the "prim­
The School of David and the "Crisis" of the Male Nude itive" art of the pre-Classical , medieval, and early Re naissance
periods. Ingres, at one tim e, was drawn to this group, and
The imperial art machine was admittedly huge , yet not all his Portrait of Napoleon on his Impe rial Thone (see FIC. 5-17),
art exhibited at the Salon during Napoleon 's reign was in its medievalizing style, is an example of the artistic ten­
commissioned by the government . The Empire Salons, dencies of the Primitives.
like those of the late eighteenth century, featured a vari ­ The third generation of David's students, who studied
ety of works , from Classical scenes and biblical subjects with the master from 1800 to 1815 , was composed largely
to portraits, landscapes , and genre scenes. of foreign students. Many of them came from the coun­
If there is anything that truly marked the Salons of the tries that Napoleon had conquered-Germany, Spain, and
Empire period , it is that they were flooded by the works the modern-day Netherlands and Belgium-which were
of the students of David. Although it is impossible to say for some years offiCially part of the French Empire . These
exactly how many aspiring artists were trained in David's foreign students encouraged the spread of David's brand
studio, their number was certainly in the hundreds. David of Neoclassicism across Europe. Their art would dominate
taught for thirty-five years, from 1781 to 1816, so that his European academies far into the nineteenth century.

128 TheArts WIder Napoleoll

 While some of David's students followed their teacher's The sensuous, erotic character of this painting differs
Neoclassical precepts religiously, others explored new greatly from the virtuous , edifying nature of David's works .
directions . During the Empire , young artists had access to Its dynamic composition , guided by two crossing diago­
a wide variety of artistic traditions , thanks to the treasures nal lines, is also unlike the more static constructions of
brought together by Napoleon in the Louvre . In addition, David's paintings , in which horizontals and verticals dom­
a powerful alternative to David's ri g id Neoclassicism was inate. Finally and most strikingly, the soft, effeminate body
provided by Prud'hon (see pages 104-5 and 123-4), who, of Endym ion is distinct from the heroic male bodies fea­
throughout his career, maintained an independent artistic tured in the work of David.
stance . These combined influences led many of David's The Sleep of Endymion was shown to much acclaim at the
students astray from the Classical principles that the teacher Salon of 1793 , but Girodet had painted the work two years
expounded in his studio. earlier in Rome , where he first may have become inter­
Some of the works of Anne-Louis Girodet ( 1767-1824) ested in the alternative representation of the male body
show how Neoclassicism mi gh t be transformed in the seen in his work . Androgynous bodies (combining male
hands of David's students. The Sleep of EndYI11 ion , of 1791 and female characteristics ) such as Endymion's were not
(FIG. 5-22 ), for example, is a dark , myste rious painting that unknown in Classical art. Already Winckelmann, in his
is a far cry from the clearly ordered paintings of David of History of Ancient Art, had concluded that there was a dual­
the 1780s. It depicts a beautiful youth from Greek myth, ity in the Greek ideal of physical beauty; that, in fact , there
who was put to eternal sleep by the moon goddess so that were two ideal modes , loosely linked to the fifth and fourth
she could love him for ever. The pale , lan guo rous body of centuries BeE, respectively. The first mode was masculine,
Endymion strikes a pose of ecstatic abandonment as his heroic, and austere; the second was feminine , graceful ,
body is caressed by the rays of the moo n. A prepubescent and sensuous . While the two modes were most clearly
Eros (spirit of love) parts the branches th at admit the light seen in sculptures of male and female bodies , respectively,
into the thicket where Endymion rests . it was possible to encounter th e masculine ideal in female

5-22 Anne-Louis Girodet, The Sleep oj El1dYlIliol1 , 179 1. Oil o n canvas , 6'6" x 8'6" ( 1.97 x 2.6 m). Mu see du Lo uvre, Pari s.

The School oj David and the "Crisis" oj the Male Nude 129
5-23 (be low) Borg/me Genius (o r Cup id ).
Marble, lifes ize. Musee du Lo uvre, Paris
(formerly Vill a Borghese, Ro me).

5-24 Jean Broc, The Death oj Hyacinth, 180 1. O il on ca nvas, 70 x 49"

( 1.78 x 1.26 m). Musee des Beaux-Arts, Poi tiers.

figures (for example, the goddess Athena ) and the femi­

nine ideal in masculine figures, such as Cupid (FIe. 5-23 ).
Feminine traits were particularly pronounced in the ephebes
or adolescent youths who became lovers of the gods:
Adonis, Endymion, Hyacinth, or Narcissus.
The increased preoccupation of David's students, from
the early t 790s onwards, with the graceful, androgynous
nude has been attributed to various factors. On the one
hand , it has been interpreted as an act of rebellion against
David's relentless emphasis on the heroic nude . (When
Cirodet described Endymiol1 to his guardian, Benolt-Fran<;ois
Trioson, he wrote that the painting arose from a desire "to
get away from [David's] genre as much as I possibly can.")
On the other, the new emphasis on sensuality rather than
austerity, on gracefulness rather than heroism, has been
seen as a reflection of a large r psycho-cultural change fol­
lowing the revolutionary years.

130 The Arts under Napo leon

5 -25 Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Torso oj a Mal1 , Salon of 1801. Oil on canvas, 39% x 31 Y2" ( I00 x 80 cm) .
Ecole National e des Beaux-Arts, Paris .

The School of David al1d the "Crisis" of the Male Nude 131
5-26 Jean-Henri Cless. The Studio of David, c. 181 O. Black chalk, 17 x 23" (45 x 59 cm). Musee Carnavalet, Pari s.

The generation that matured in the 1790s, in the wake

of the thousands of guillotine executions that had been
performed in the name of the revolution, looked at life in
a way that was different from their fathers and teachers.
The virtues of the older generation-moral principle, stoic
poise, rationality-had lost their appeal. The new gener­
ation was too aware of the suffering that these ideas had
caused. They no longer understood Socrates's stoical indif­
ference in the face of his execution; they no longer admired
Brutus's condemnation of his own sons to death . They pre­
ferred sensitivity to self-possession . They sympathized
with the victim rather than the perpetrator, however heroic,
however lofty his goals.
It is remarkable that many of the androgynous nudes
in the works of David's students are suffering. This is obvi­
ous in The Death oJHyacinth (FiC. 5-24), an unusual painting
by David's student Jean Broc (1771-1850), who, in his
youth, had belonged to the Barbus . It depicts the beauti­
ful Hyacinth, the playmate of the Greek god Apollo, who

5-27 Anne-Louis Girodet, The New Danae; Salon of 1799. Oil on

canvas, 25 x 21" (65 x 54 cm). Minnea polis Institute of Arts.

132 The Arts under Napoleon

accidentally killed the boy as they were throwing disks. students made in his studio (FIC. 5-26) . In both, the nudes
In the painting, a youthful Apollo with soft curly locks are "on display" for the viewer to examine , just as the
embraces the lifeless Hyacinth. The androgynous bodies male model in the studio was on display for David's
of the two figures are curved and soft, having nothing in students.
common with the taut muscular bodies of, for example,
the Horatii brothers in David's painting. Their embrace
speaks of pathos and sensuality. The painting has a dream­ The Female Nude
like quality that is quite different from the clarity and
eloquence of David's work . While the male nude was privileged in the art of the
The masculine eroticism that marks Broc's Death of Empire, the female nude, which came later to dominate
Hyacinth and Cirodet's Sleep of Endymion has been linked nineteenth-century Salons, was not neglected. Although
to David's studio , where an all-male student body spent female models were not allowed in the Academy, artists
their days drawing and painting after male nudes under had access to female models in their private studios . One
the supervision of a male teacher (FIC. 5-25 ). This is not of the most notorious examples of a female nude at the
to say that David's students were homosexuals; they may Salons of this time was Cirodet's The New Danae· (FI C .
or may not have been . But it is fair to assume that the 5-27), exhibited during the last two days of the Salon of
exclusively "homosocial" (i.e., same-gender) environment t 799 . The painting depicts an ancient Creek princess
in which David's students worked, and often lived, caused who was loved by Zeus . According to Creek mythology,
them to conceive of their art within a masculine frame his divine love took the form of a shower of gold which
of reference. Cirodet's Endymion and Broc's Hyacinth are fell into her lap and made her pregnant with the future
not far removed from the academic studies that David's hero Perseus . Cirodet's contemporaries immediately saw

5-28 Anne-Louis Girodet, The Entombment oj Atala, 1808. Oil on canvas , 5'5" x 6' 11 " ( 1.67 x 2. 1 c m ). Musee du Louvre, Paris .

The Female Nude 133

the likeness between Danae and a contemporary star of her shawl, was the acress's extramarital daughter,
the stage, Mademoiselle Lange. The artist had a grudge for whose education the biological father had paid her
against the actress, who, at the beginning of the same 2,000 livres.
Salon, had demanded that Cirodet remove her commis­
sioned portrait because, she said, it compromised her
reputation for beauty. In revenge, Cirodet hung in its The Transformation of Neoclassicism: New Subjects
place this painting of Lange as Danae, greedily catching and Sensibilities
Zeus' amorous gift of gold in a shawl, before it reaches
her lap. To Cirodet's contemporaries, who, with few Cirodet and Broc abandoned the scenes of Roman his­
exceptions, must have been familiar with Lange's numer­ tory that David favored for episodes from Creek mythology.
ous love affairs, many of the details of the painting must They and other students of David often went even fur­
have been meaningful, if not amusing. They doubtlessly ther, finding inspiration in medieval and Renaissance
understood that the turkey cock on the left of the pic­ history or in contemporary literature. Cirodet's The Entomb­
ture represented her cuckolded husband and that the ment of Atala (FIC. 5 -28), for example, depicts a scene from
little winged infant, who helps Lange catch the coins in Franc;ois-Rene de Chateaubriand's short novel Atala, first

5-29 Fran~ois Gerard, Ossian Summoning the Spirits, 1802. Oil on canvas, 6'3" x 6' (1.92 x 1.84 m). Musee du Chateau de Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaisol1.

134 The Arts under Napoleon

published in 1801 and a sensational best-seller of the Navarre (FIG. 5-31), by Fleury-Fran<;ois Richard (1777-1852),
period. Set in French Louisiana, the book tells the story shown at the Salon of 1804, is typical of this style. This
of a Christian girl of mixed European and Native Amer­ historical genre scene depicts an intimate moment between
ican descent, whose mother made a sacred vow that her King Francis I and his beloved sister. like Dou's Woman
daughter would remain a virgin. When Atala falls in love Sick with Dropsy, it shows a domestic interior lit by a sin­
with Chactas, a Natchez Indian, the conflict between love gle window on the left . The figures are conversing, their
and religion leads her to poison herself. In Girodet's paint­ faces illuminated by the light that comes through the win­
ing, Chactas and an old Capuchin monk are about to place dow. Although the subject of the painting is fictional, the
her virgin body in the grave. The painting is marked by period details have been carefully researched and are faith­
contrasts: between old age and youth, femininity and mas­ fully rendered.
culinity, Christianity and paganism. The importance of
religion in this painting is especially significant. During
the revolutionary period, organized religion had been The Lesser Genres: Genre, Portraiture and Landscape
outlawed, and religious themes were frowned upon.
Girodet's painting reflects the beginning of a return to During the Consulate and the Empire, the Salons were
Christianity that was fueled by Chateaubriand's book The visually dominated by large-scale history paintings. In
Genius of ChristiaJ1ity of 1802, and made official by Napoleon terms of numbers, however, small- scale genre paintings
through the so-called Concordat with the Pope, which (such as the historical genre paintings in the troubadour
proclaimed Roman Catholicism the "preferred" religion style), portraits, and landscape paintings prevailed. It is
in France.
Gerard's Ossian Summoning the Spirits ( FIC. 5-29) depicts
a medieval subject. It was one of two paintings on Ossianic
themes commissioned for Empress Josephine's residence
Painting Genres and
at Malmaison (the other was by Girodet). In Gerard's work, their Hierarchy
Ossian-here represented as a blind old bard playing an
Irish harp-summons up the spirits of the dead. Far removed "Genre" is a French word, meaning "kind" or "type." In
from the severe classicism of David , the painting has a the eighteenth century, art critics used it to refer to
different kinds of subject matter in painting. Early on, a
haunting sublimity, not unlike the works of contemporary
distinction was made between peinture d'histoire, or
British artists. history painting, and peinture de genre, which included
all other subjects. Denis Diderot called genre painters
"those who busy themselves with flowers, fruits, animals,
woods, forests, mountains, as well as those who borrow
Historic Genre Painting and the So-called their scenes from common and domestic life." History
Troubadour Style painters, by contrast, depicted subjects borrowed from
literary texts, such as the Bible, Classical literature, or
historical works. History paintings, by their very nature,
Scenes from medieval and Renaissance history were the
were narrative; they retold a literary story in pictorial
favorite subject of a group of artists in David's studio who terms, often in an attempt to highlight its moral. Indeed,
called themselves the "aristocrats." They were interested in for its moralizing and didactic character, history painting
the personalities and private lives of well-known historical was considered the highest form of painting.
At the end of the eighteenth century the term
figures. In some cases, their works were inspired by popu­
peinture de genre, or "genre painting," acquired a more
lar anecdotes from the lives of famous characters of the past. specific meaning and came to refer to representations of
At other times, these artists attempted to reconstruct the scenes of ordinary life. By the early nineteenth century, a
daily life of historical figures or past periods. It is usual to hierarchy of genres developed, in which history painting
was at the top and still life painting, which focused on the
refer to these works as historical genre painting.
depiction of objects and non-living natural things (cut
To paint their new, intimate subjects, the "aristocrats" flowers, shells, dead animals), at the bottom. Between
had little use for the grand style of David. Instead, they were them came the other genres-portrait, landscape, and
fascinated by seventeenth-century Dutch genre paintings, genre painting . Portrait was generally considered second
to history painting because it focused on the human
which were exceptionally well represented in the Napoleonic figure. Landscape, more often than not, came next,
Museum. They particularly admired Gerard Dou (1613-1675), particularly historical landscape (see page 139). Genre
a student of Rembrandt, for his use of subtle color combi­ painting came before still life, because, like the portrait, it
depicted human beings rather than things. The hierarchy
nations and his fine, miniaturist execution. Dou's Woman Sick
of genres was upheld by the academies, which
with Dropsy (FiC. 5-30), in the Louvre, was their favorite. emphasized its importance in their teachings. At different
In imitation of Doll's work, the "aristocrats" developed times and in different places, academies might reshuffle
a polished, highly detailed style of historical genre paint­ the order of the hierarchy of genres, but history painting
was invariably the most elevated genre.
ings that is referred to as the "troubadour style." The
painting of King Francis I and His Sister Margaret, Queen of

Th e Les ser Genres Genre, Po rtraiture and Landscape 135

5 -30 Gerard Dou, Wom an Sick with Dropsy, 1663. Oil on pan e l, 34 x 27" (86 x 68 e m ). Mu see du Louvre, Pari s_

true that these genres were rated lower than history paint­ same time , representative of the type of paintings that
ing in the hierarchy of genres of the Academy. But as the decorated it. It represents a family room in a modest bour­
middle class began to grow and thrive, in the wake of the geois home during the Napole on ic era . The scene is
revolution, there was a new demand for such works, which, centered on a huge map of Europe that is spread out on
because of their modest size, were perfectly suited to bour­ a table in the middle of the painting . An old man, seated
geois domestic interiors. behind the table , holds in his hand one of the numerous
The Reading oj the Bulletin oj the Grande Annie (FIC. 5-32 ), printed bulletins distributed by Napoleon to inform (or
by Louis- Leopold Boilly ( 1761-1845 ), shows just such an sometimes misinform ) the public about the movements
interior (note the paintings on the wall ) and is , at the and exploits of his "grand army." Together with a stand­

136 The Arts tinder Napoleon

5-3 J Fleury-Fran~ois Richard, Kil1g Fral1cis I al1d his Sister Margaret, Queen oj Navarre, Salon of 1804. Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 ~8" (76.8 x 65 em) .
Napoleon Museum , Schloss Arenenberg, Mannenbach-Salenstein, Switzerland.

The Lesser Genres Genre, Portraiture and Lal1dscape 137

5- 32 Louis-Leopold Boilly, The Reading of the Bulletin oj tl1f Grande Annee, 1807. Oil on c anvas, 17!i3 x 23 Y4 " (44 x 59 COl )
Art Muse um , St Louis.

ing young man, he is trying to trace on the map the move­ was inexhaustible . David and the artists of his school
ment of the troops. Several young men, eager but still too generally received the more important portrait
young to join the army, are looking on. Among them is a commissions.
young man, dressed in a Napoleonic army hat with a red, David's Portrait oj Madame Recamier (FI C. 5 -3 3) portrays a
white, and blue cockade , who seems torn between his well-connected Parisienne. Her salon (reception room)
sense of adventure and his love for the young woman in attracted many distinguised political figures, intellectuals,
white standing on the right of the table . Children are and artists of the day. David's portrait, however, does not
everywhere in the room, their ages ranging from a new­ focus on his sitter's social status , but on her natural beauty.
born , suckling his mother's breast , to young teenagers. Barefoot and simply clad, she reclines , in Roman fashion,
Their innocent games , such as cutting out paper dolls , on an Empire settee. The limited color scheme of the paint­
mounting a doll on a cat, or building a house of cards ing was perhaps not originally intended. David was
(destroyed by a dog before it could be completed) seem exasperated with this portrait, and left it unfinished. To
to prefigure adult activities and may hint at their futility. our modern eyes, however, the austerity that results from
Paintings like this appealed to the middle class for their it lends this painting a refreshing purity that is quite dis­
contemporaneity and their amusing and/or sentimental tinct from other portraits of the period.
anecdotal details . Compare David's Madame Recamier with the Portrait oj
Of all the lesser genres, portraiture was most in demand . Madame Riviere (FIC. 5-34 ), by Jean-Dominique Ingres , for
The new bourgeoisie liked to furnish their homes with example, and its unique qualities are obvious. This is not
portraits of themselves and their families. Nearly all to say that Ingres's portrait is not a masterpiece in its own
artists of the pe riod practiced portraiture, for the d e mand right. Of all of David's students, Ingres became best known

138 Th eArts under Napolcol1

5-33 Jacques-Louis David, Portrait oj Madame Recamier, 1800. Oil on canvas, 5'8" x 7'8" ( 1.73 x 2.43 m). Musee du Louvre, Paris .

for his portraiture. His popularity as a portraitist was directly Of the numerous landscapes that were seen at the Salons
related to his ability to enhance his sitters' appearance of the Consulate and the Empire, relatively few have sur­
while simultaneously creating the illusion of an incredi­ vived. This may be attributed to the lack of respect that
ble realism . people had for landscape painting, which made its conser­
H is Portrait of Madame Riviere shows a you ng, raven -hai red vation a low priority. Within the broad field of landscape
woman reclining on the icy-blue velvet cushions of a set­ painting, the historical landscape was ranked above all other
tee . like Madame Recamier, she is simply dressed. But a categories (see umdscape Painting-Subjects and Modalities , page
huge, cashmere shawl draped around her shoulders and 190). Historical landscapes typically depict mountainous
another thin, transparent veil streaming out of her dark scenery dotted with Classical buildings, showing small fig­
curls add a layer of complexity to her appearance. The ures in Classical dress, often acting out a historical scene .
multiple folds in her shawl and veil form intricate patterns Although they had their origins in the seventeenth century,
of intersecting lines and dramatic contrasts of light and in the works of Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain, his­
shade that emphasize the smooth, streamlined surfaces of torical landscapes had largely disappeared in the early
the face and body. The highly finished portrait creates the eighteenth century. Their revival, at the end of the eigh­
illusion of an almost photographic realism , which is belied, teenth century, was due to Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes
however, by the curious anatomical distortions (the elon­ ( 1750-1819), who gave an important impetus to the rise of
gated right arm , the absence of finger joints). One realizes landscape painting in the nineteenth centUiy.
that the painting is a clever deception, all in the name of His early Landscape of Ancient Greece (FIC. 5.35) is typical
sensual beauty and grace . Ingres's painting may be com­ of the historical landscapes that were shown in the Salons
pared to the works of such early Renaissance Italian artists from the late 1780s to the 1820s by Valenciennes and his
as Botticelli (c.1445-1510) and Fra Filippo Lippi followers. It depicts a mountainous land~cape, punctu­
(c. 1406-1469), artists who likewise sacrificed anatomical ated by Classical buildings, sculptures, and tiny figures ,
correctness to graceful contours. in Classical dress , engaged in various activities . like most

The Lesser GeHres Genre, Portraiture and Lal1dscape 139

5-34 Jean-Dominique Ingres, Portrait oj Madame Riviere, 1805. Oil on canvas, 45% x 35%" (1 . 16 m x 90 cm ).
Musee du Louvre, Pari s.

140 The Arts under Napoleon

5-35 Pierre Henri de Valenciennes, LaJ1dscape oj AJ1cient Greece, 1786. Oil on canva s, 39 x 60" ( 100.3 x 152.4 cm)
D e troit Institute of Arts .

historical landscapes, it is loosely inspired by the scenery doors in oils helped Valenciennes to recall the true effects
around Rome, where Valenciennes, like Poussin and Lor­ of light and atmosphere with a greater degree of verisimil­
rain before him , had spent many years studying. It is clearly itude when he was painting his finished landscapes in
an imaginary construct, however, carefully composed to the studio.
lead the viewer's eye from the figures in the foreground , Valenciennes not only reintroduced the Classical land­
along the river, towards the distant background. scape; he also helped to raise the importance of landscape
Perhaps the most attractive aspect of Valenciennes's painting. A teacher at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris
painting is the artist's beautiful rendering of light-a from 1812, he encouraged a considerable number of young
warm Mediterranean glow that softly accents the salient art students to paint landscapes. He lobbied for a special
points in the landscape. This sensitive rendering of light Rome Prize for landscape painters (1816) . Finally, in his
and atmosphere was informed by Valenciennes's prac­ well-known treatise Elements de perspective (Elements of Per­
tice of making oil studies outdoors . This was a novelty spective), he discussed the theory and practice of landscape
in the eighteenth century, when painters generally based painting in detaiC which elevated the status and prestige
their landscapes , which invariably were painted indoors, of the genre and influenced French artists throughout the
on pencil drawings and color notations . Sketching out­ nineteenth century.

TIJe Lesser Gen res: Ge1lre, Par/raiture and Landscape 141