The Coronation of Napoleon
By Jacques Louis David, 1807
Standing nearly twenty feet tall and over thirty feet wide, this enormous painting captures the moment Napoleon crowned his wife Josephine as Empress in 1804. The ceremony took place at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, and Jacques Louis David, the official painter of the empire, was there to witness it. What makes this scene so interesting is what Napoleon did just moments before. Rather than letting the Pope crown him, he took the crown and placed it on his own head, a bold statement that he answered to no one. David cleverly chose to show the slightly less controversial moment of Napoleon crowning Josephine instead.
David worked in the Neoclassical style, which favored clean lines, balanced composition, and the grandeur of ancient Rome. You can see this in the orderly arrangement of the crowd and the calm, dignified poses. The artist also took a few liberties with the truth. Napoleon's mother sits prominently in the center balcony, even though she actually refused to attend the ceremony. Look closely and you can spot the Pope seated behind Napoleon, raising his hand in a small blessing that David added to please both the emperor and the church.
It took David nearly three years to finish this massive work, and the result is a striking record of power, ambition, and careful political theater.