The coronation of Napoleon, Jacques Louis David – description of the painting

Description of the picture:

Coronation of Napoleon – Jacques Louis David. 1805-1808. Canvas, oil. 621×979 cm

   In one thousand eight hundred and four years in the eminent Notre Dame, a magnificent ceremony of the coronation of Napoleon and his wife Josephine took place. Golden carriages, chic decoration, countless masses – David simply could not get past this epoch-making action. It is catchy that for the embodiment he chose the moment when the newly made ruler crowns his wife. Moreover, earlier he took a laurel crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII and, contrary to custom, put it on his head for himself.

   Some art historians say that it was precisely this moment that David noted to himself in all the rich opulent action, because he was impressed by Rubens’s painting “The Coronation of Maria de Medici”.

   The painting is an example of how a painter can please an imperative customer – work on the canvas lasted about three years, because the painter constantly made changes at the request of Napoleon. The most famous of these “supplements” is the presence on the canvas of Napoleon’s mother, although she herself was not at the coronation. Also, some nobles asked to rewrite their figures, placing them as close as possible to the emperor.

   At the request of some South American businessman, David made a copy of his own picture, which was destined to take the place of the original in Versailles, after the “departure” thereof to the Louvre."