The Coronation of Napoleon

Infobox Painting

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image_size = 320px
title = The Coronation of Napoleon
artist = Jacques-Louis David
year = 1805–07 (exhibited 1808)
type = Oil on canvas
height = 621
width = 979
city = Paris, France
museum = Louvre

The Coronation of Napoleon is a painting completed in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon. The painting has imposing dimensions, as it is almost ten metres by six. The crowning and the coronation took place at Notre-Dame de Paris, a way for Napoleon to make it clear that he was a son of the Revolution.

History of the work

The work was commissioned by Napoleon orally in September 1804 and its official title is "Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804." Jacques-Louis David began his execution on December 21, 1805 in the former chapel of the College of Cluny, near the Sorbonne, which serves as a workshop. Assisted by his student Georges Rouget, he put the finishing touches in November 1807. From February 7 to 21 March 1808, the work was exhibited at the Salon annual painting display in 1810, and it is presented to the decennial price competition. The picture remained the property of David until 1819, when he is transferred to the Royal Museums, where it was stored in the reserves until 1837. Then, it was installed in the Chamber Sacre du museum of historical Palace of Versailles on the orders of King Louis-Philippe. In 1889, the painting was transferred to the Louvre from Versailles and replaced by a replica of the late painter's hand.

Composition

The painting is covered by several guidelines and incorporates the rules of neoclassicism. A key is that which passes through the cross and has a vertical orientation. All eyes seem to converge towards Napoleon who is the center of the composition. A diagonal line runs from the pope to the empress.

Characters

# Napoleon (1769-1821), is standing, holding sacred, similar to that of Roman emperors, others are merely passive spectators.
# Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), is kneeling in a submissive position, as called for in the Civil Code French. She received the crown from the hands of her husband, not the pope. His robe is decorated with silk according to Cartoon by Jean-Francois Bony.
# Maria Letizia Ramolino (1750-1836), mother of Napoleon, was placed in the stands by the painter. It occupies a place more important than the pope. Actually, she did not attend the ceremony to protest the blurring of Napoleon with his brother Lucien. Napoleon's father, Charles Bonaparte died in 1785. Maria Letizia asked the painter to give it a place of honor. In 1808, when Napoleon discovered the canvas completed in the workshop of David, he was transported, and said his gratitude to the painter who had managed to pay tribute to posterity to the affection he was carrying a woman who shared with him the burden of his office.
# Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), at the beginning of the empire, he received the title of grand constable. King of Holland in 1806. He married Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine.
# Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), after the coronation, he received the title of imperial prince. Then he was king of Naples in 1806 and Spain in 1808.
# The young Charles Napoleon (1802-1807), son of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnais.
# The sisters of Napoleon.
# Charles-Francois Lebrun (1739-1824), the third consul alongside Napoleon and Cambacérès. Under the First Empire, it took the place of prince-architrésorier. He holds the sceptre.
# Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès (1753-1824), archichancelier prince of the empire. It takes the hand of justice.
# Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753-1815), minister of war under the Consulate. Marshal Empire in 1805. He keeps the globe surmounted by a cross.
# Talleyrand (1754-1836), grand chamberlain since July 11, 1804.
# Joachim Murat (1767-1815), marshal of empire, king of Naples after 1808, brother-in-law of Napoleon and husband of Caroline Bonaparte.
# Pope Pius VII (1742-1823), was content to bless the coronation. It is surrounded by dignitaries clerics, appointed by Napoleon since the Concordat. In order not to jeopardize the new balance between Church and State, the pope accepted to attend the coronation.
# The painter Jacques-Louis David lies in the stands.