This Iconic Napoleon Painting Tricked Everyone
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 พ.ย. 2023
- This is Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David. It’s the most famous portrait of the brutal French military leader turned emperor. But in reality, this painting is a giant lie and just another reason the artist is considered a sellout.
Napoleon wasn’t just a genius military commander, he was also a master propagandist. Here's the truth about this painting. Napoleon didn’t ride up the alps on a horse, he rode up on a mule. He also didn’t even lead his troops over the Alps at all, he followed them a couple of days later. And the weather was apparently nice, not treacherous as the painting suggests.
This painting depicts this event formally known as the Battle of Marengo where the French took the Austrians by surprise and won. In celebration of his recent victory and becoming First Consul an exchange of gifts took place between Charles IV of Spain and Napoleon to re-establish diplomatic relations. The original portrait was commissioned by King Charles and gifted to Napoleon. This piece is one of the many copies Napoleon had David create for him afterward.
Many have raised doubts about the artists motives, questioning how he could oppose the monarchy so strongly only to later endorse someone like Napoleon, who forcefully rose to power and made himself a tyrannical dictator. Though his revolutionary paintings were so raw and intense, which makes it difficult to believe that he didn't genuinely believe in it.
Napoleon may not have sat for this portrait but David's painting portrayed him exactly as he wanted to be seen: The ideal savior for a nation that was desperate and in the trenches. Thank you for watching!
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Napoleon employed a local teenage boy to serve as a guide during the crossing of the Alps. The boy later recounted how on many occasions Napoleon and the soldiers had to slide down icy trails on their butts. That image would have made for a most heroic painting.
That’s a legit mountaineering practice. I’ve butt glissaded countless times but you have to be careful not to snag your crampons and keep your ice axe handy to slow yourself down or stop if necessary. More than a few climbers have lost control and slid off cliffs or slammed into boulder fields.
A lot of people were smitten with Napoleon. Beethoven wrote "Eroica" for him, but left out the last part of it because he had grown disillusioned with Napoleon. Sometimes it is hard for us to put away those who gained our loyalty, even if they turn out not to deserve it. In any case, I love all of David's paintings. They are stunningly beautiful.
God, I love this channel and the style of presentation. But I must say, I miss the older more detailed video essays which would be way over 10 mins. But maybe, this portrait of Napoleon only deserves this length, average for our time ha :D
Blame the TH-cam algorithm.
Still a great portrait
Yes, you sure can get lost in her voice and the information that comes with it. I think it is just because Napoleon has already been talked about so much. ❤
@CZRWK, we chose to watch Art Deco.
In this case,the algorithm did not choose us... but that's funny. 😂😂😂
@@WVgirl1959 it's not about the people who subscribed or watched, it's about the length of a video that TH-cam will promote and monetize because of XYZ criteria. It might be that if this creator makes long form videos, that they won't be promoted and monetized as much because of no new, unsubscribed views.
At a thrift shop, I found some unknown art student's attempt at David's "The Death of Marat" for $3.03. It was done in acrylics, and despite its clumsy chiaroscuro and a few amateurish notes, it's pleasing to me. I hung it in my bathroom wall above the showerhead so I can laze in a bubble bath with my boobs floating and contemplate it.
😆😁😅
@@pliktl Hehheh, you got me. But practice makes perfect!
As a gay man I am truly gobsmacked that boobs float. 🤷♂️
@@charleshamilton9274 Hot spring episodes in anime taught me that pretty early on
@@charleshamilton9274 Ah, curious... I was under the impression that the buoyancy factor also applied to the ol' "meat and two veg."
War horses were exorbitantly expensive. Even now, maintaining horses is an expensive undertaking. Why exhaust your horse when mules are far more hardy and more suitable for traversing snowy mountain terrain? It makes infinitely more sense to me that he rode a mule up the alps.
I adore this channel. Thank youuuu
I thought you were going to say: " why waste money on a horse when you can use a ladder?"
That presumes that he gave a shit about his horses. If riding a horse served his ego he would have been on a horse no matter the cost.
Mules are better in mountain, they just cost as much
In WWI a famous Scottish American dog sledder brought sled dogs from Alaska to Europe to serve bringing supplies into the Alps. They were found to be far superior for the task than the ponies they had been using.
@@t.a.7970 i'm never against making fun of historical figures with inflated egos, but common, the man was a general, he knew how to manage his resources. Making a bad decision like wasting a ton of money by straining a good war horse with a task it isn't prepared for is a much bigger blow to the ego than riding a mule instead.
Imagine a world where the super rich pay nothing in taxes… You mean the world we currently live in?
And they always have a gestapo to protect them...
You are SO wrong. If you are in the USA, an ultra wealthy CEO, or whatever job title it is you hate these days, will pay more in taxes yearly than you will make it ten years.
It takes THOUSANDS of normal citizens taxes to equal that of a single person in the “1%”.
@@Peter-ff1tp Yes, that's right, thousands of normal citizens to make one of the 1%.
But there are very few of the 1%, and they have so much cash tied up and not out being used to purchase anything, meaning the money isn't working to make others rich.
Money is like manure, in order for it to work, you have to spread it around! If you don't spread it around, but hide it in a vault in a bank, money stops working for everyone.
And due to more and more of the wealth is being buried in tombs of bank vaults by the 1%, there is less money for the super CEOs and regular workers to work for.
But the 1% are the ones that have tax lawyers doing everything to make it so they don't pay hardly any taxes. The 1% are not working people, they are the ones who are buying up everything to make more tax shelters so the money they have does not get taxed.
Super CEO's and the rest of us, are the ones paying taxes. We are the 99%, and we are the finite well of cash the 1% draw their obscene wealth from, leaving even less for us to work for.
@@Peter-ff1tp sure jan
I was going to say it sounded rather familiar!😊
Horsemen keep their heels DOWN at all times. Napoleon's heels in the stirrups are up, which, if your foot slipped, your foot would get caught in the stirrup and is extremely dangerous.
David, get it right!
Oh yeah, I can hear my horse riding instructor yelling, "Heels down! Shoulders straight! And for fucks sake look in the direction you are riding!"
@@sarielle85 Yep!
Because David and his public never saw a horse?
I've always wondered why it seemed something is amiss in this painting. Napoleon just looks way to young in it, considering the age he was at the time of his trek through the Alps. Well, now I know. 😂 Thank you for the time and effort you put into your videos. Your study and research of all of these paintings is excellent and I really enjoy them.
It’s no “muscular Trump riding a bald eagle, waving a rifle”.
he was 30 when he crossed the alps, i dont really think he looks too young in the painting (hotwashed? sure, but not agewashed). Napoleon did pose for Bonaparte au Pont d’Arcole only 4 years earlier and he looks almost the same.
Maybe David was both a revolutionary and a survivalist. We don't know what sort of pressures he was under to do his job. No doubt he wanted to keep his family fed and alive -which means going with the flow of the current government for someone rubbing shoulders in those sorts of circles. Maybe he gave himsekf a copy of the painting because he liked it. Maybe it was an overt display of loyalty to undermine any suspicions. Who knows. Those details from other works are exquisite tho!❤
Yes, it was part of his propaganda campaign! I am a history professor and just saw the movie. I made a review on it as well if people want to know what was historically accurate in it and what was fiction.
Hum, I think I see the movie, then check out your content. :)
Thank you! @@be6715
Are historians more accurate than David? I bet you will talk about the Russian winter, where he lost most of his army in the summer and left Russia by the autumn.
The movie was shit.
@@2adamasterr, YES, historians, who study that shit all their life and do their best to correct any error in our perception of history, ARE WAY MORE ACCURATE THAN A PAINTER WHO MADE A PIECE OF PROPAGANDA.
You can't be serious🤦♂️
Your videos are always so enjoyable!
Art Deco is a bright spot on You Tube and your editing skills are top notch.
Thank you so much!
I absolutely agree! Didya catch the"cool as a cucumber" Perfection!!!!
I don’t know, there’s something about the editing and the way she speaks that gives me negative ASMR
@@antoniocasias5545 How nice for you.
I'd prefer if there were less effects, visual and auditory personally. The explosions and gasps make me wanna watch something else but I like learning about this subject matter.
Napoleon wasn't exactly tall, but the Brit propaganda weaponized his size because in pre-metric France, the inch was longer than the imperial inch (2.7cm vs 2.54). So his size was 5 ft 2 in in French customary units, roughly 1.67 metre. But of course, omitting the precision, it sounded ridiculously short for a common man accustomed to the imperial system.
His age is portraited right though. He was 27 years old when he got command of the army of Italy and the battle of Marengo was at the end of the Italian campaign, which wouldve made him at MOST 31 or 30
That makes sense then to have his son pose for it.
Great video as always! Can you do a video on Artemisia Gentileschi? A brilliant lady with beautiful artwork.
Oh, yes, please!
I would love that!
I confess I damaged a high school history book by tearing out the page that contained this portrait (I thought it was a gorgeous painting, accurate or not). Thanks very much for the history and context. As always, I appreciate your presentation a great deal. Thank you.
You were right - it is a sumptuously gorgeous painting. The fact that it is propaganda doesn't change that. Almost all portraits of the powerful were extremely flattering. David was just following routine. Cromwell is still famous for telling the portrait artist to include his warts.
We appreciate your insights. You'll always have our support no matter what.
Thank you!!
If I had the opportunity, she has taught me the regret of *not* exploring art history !
Are you suggesting she should lead us through the Alps once more?
The one thing that irritates me about this painting is the way Napoleon sits on that horse. It looks abnormal and makes him look like an inexperienced rider.
His foot in the stirrup is particularly irritating, since his heels should be DOWN not up, especially going up hill. But, perhaps he wasn't a super experienced horseman? If he came from more humble surroundings, he may not have had many riding horses in his life, and if he really crossed the Alps on a mule/donkey, and was led at that, well doesn't speak much for his horsemanship. Just a thought.
Um... Maybe it's because the ARTIST wasn't an experienced horseman??? As our narrator points out, Napoleon did not sit for the portrait. And I think, holding a pose, the horse would have been exhausted! [The real reason for its alarmed expression...]
His legs seem too long in relation to the horse. No allowance ghas been made for the legs to go around the horse. If you straighten his legs as if he were riding on the flat, they come to about a foot below the horses belly. Was his charger a small pony?
A historian recently pointed out he actually rode a mule over the Alps .
The artist of painting.. had to make it with his son holding onto a stair! Probably he was being rushed to have it ready quickly, and he most surely didn't knew much about horses or riding in the slightest.
@@be6715 then no. Napoleon was a very, very good horseman, just that the person who did this painting is a painter and not a horseman. Then it makes sense to use a mule to cross the Alps rather than a horse which is much less robust. find out next time.
Thank you for pointing out so much background detail that I'd never taken any notice of before.
"I don't give a frantic feline" has become my new to-go phrase
Anyone else have a crush on the portrait when you where little
This one and the other darker one of him at the bridge, that ones not as bombastic, but its my favorite. 4:43
Still do
I'm a new subscriber but God, i'm already addicted, your sense of humor is like the icing on the cake, your edits are amazing too... I'm happy i stumble on your channel ❤
France in the 18 th century sounds a lot like America and pretty much like many other countries as well. **SIGH** Like King Solomon said “there is nothing new under the sun.”
Always a joy to listen to your videos and always informative and with good clean humor!
So glad to see this here. I have been missing your videos for weeks or even months.
Regarding his poor riding form- The positioning of the foot may be to get that youthful, vibrant, sexy calf look & bc of the horse rearing up. (Sort of holding on w his feet.)
To me, it looks impossibly balanced. One hand isn't holding at all, the reins are slack in the other. How strong is that wind? If not for it, would he be thrown & bouncing down the cliff behind him?
Glad to see an upload on this channel!
Glad you enjoy it!
I have never fully enjoyed this art work! I love the delivery style of this channel.
Thanks for mentioning that - contrary to popular misunderstanding - Napoleon was average height for his time.
Hi! I really enjoy your videos, your style of delivery is like having a friend talk art with me (and it reminds of how in high school my friends and I would explain History and Literature with tons of pop culture reference and slang). However, I would like if you could share your sources, as I'm sure you do a ton of research for every video and would love to be able to dive deeper into some of these topics. I really appreciate your work and will often put on your videos to relax after a day's work.
I've only seen one version, the one in the Belvedere, but the thing is amazing. I spent a good hour with it over the course of multiple visits. The room is often all but empty, as the crowds are busy fighting to see that damned over-rated Klimt painting, "Der Küss."
"Der Kuss" , wenn schon..but making fun of the plebs :P
@@iuribortot6919 Ach der lieber! Kein umlaut! Glaubt mir, mein accent auf Deutsch ist schlecter persönloch als wenn ich schreibe.
I love the editing in these videos 😂, funny and educational!
I love your videos, perfect blend of history with a little sprinkle of comedy
your voice calms me down, thanks for that
Napoleon WAS relatively young when he crossed the Alps though, he was only 28 or 29 I believe, so he would have looked something like that at that time, just with long hair perhaps.
The man on the painting is a waaay younger 😂
"A little short for a general though"! That made me laugh.
Thanks for another entertaining video.
You do not disappoint. 🙂
Haha! Thanks, Dave. You’re the best!
Hahaha
I smiled when I saw your thumbnail - it's been a long time! I saved it so I could watch it just before bed thank you so much! I must tell you the first painting I saw of Napoleon was in the Louvre and it was Napoleon's wedding to Josephine. It was extraordinary. I fell in love with that piece and admired the talent
Impeccable timing! Just saw the movie yesterday and this is a perfect follow up! Thank you, very helpful and you convey knowledge with such Grace and humor! 👏🏼
Napoleon: Make me look badass!
Artist: Okay
Napoleon: Good, ooh I rolled a Nat 20 on Charisma!
There is a recipe for Chicken Marengo in The Joy of Cooking. It says that Napoleon's chef made it from "ingredients his soldiers scrounged up from the surrounding areas." [paraphrased]
What they meant was that the French army was infamous for marauding over the countryside and robbing the peasants, because the French government expected them to feed themselves "off the country" where they passed through (including the French peasants in their own country) and didn't have a quartermaster corps.
So the ingredients for Chicken Marengo are the things that the Italian peasants would ordinarily have: tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and chickens. I'm sure the French brought their own brandy and wine.
Tasting History with Max Miller just made a video for Chicken Marengo stating that story was probably a myth since the chef mentioned didn't work for Napoleon at that time. Plus later versions used tomatoes though they weren't grown in northern Italy.
th-cam.com/video/O1flfls4N78/w-d-xo.html
Max Miller just did a video on Chicken Marengo (and Napoleon's eating habits) over on Tasting History.
I’m always so thrilled when you post a video. ❤. I love to listen to your analyses of the paintings.
I love this channel and the style of presentation.
I'm still waiting 4 the fall of icarus, garden of earthly delights, the nightmare, aurora Triumphans, ivan the terrible and his son and death of marat ii
Polite
Chicken Marengo ! 😂
I love this channel. I’m inspired to research the paintings further.
the painting connoisseur QUEEN is BACK!
My favorite anecdote about his height is how pissy he got that General Dumas was way taller and more dashing than him.
Wow, a society where the majority are crushed by oppressive work conditions and poverty and the richest minority pay little to no taxes? That sounds like a horrible system that should never be replicated!
I love this channel so much!
This is a fantastic channel with great narration!
... Initially, I heard the painting referred to as 'hot gouache' instead of hogwash... and my immediate thought was to protest that it was done in oils.
Admittedly, still hot, though.
Love this! Quick biography and another fascinating art lesson!
Excellent, as always. Great Thanksgiving present!❤🎉
Thank you for this video! 😀💐
I always look forward to your videos as they strike a nice balance between being informative and funnier than hell. Thank you, AD!
Thank you! You have renewed my love of art history, and I look forward to your video’s!
I love this channel; enlightening and fun.
Thank you for your very entertaining and enlightening videos. That picture was one of the first jigsaw puzzles I ever did long long ago. I bought it because I just thought it was a great painting. J.L. David was a great master. funny - just before the end of your vid, I admired his boots too. (Great minds, I guess.)
Yep pure propaganda piece....beautifully rendered and just too good to be true. Sidenote: If Napoleon really ever did spur that horse right there, he would've been bucked off, probably pretty badly. Also though mules are much less sexy than horses, they are much more sensible and a billion times more sure footed. Fantastic content as always, I look forward to each vid!
Dude was not a sellout, he was loyal to his cause to the end. Yes, he painted a lie, but to make propaganda for his own beliefs. I feel sorry for him for this reputation
I too luv this channel hidden messages within portraits and learning history in a very informative way. Thank you - roll in more 🤩
Mike's mic is David time travelled
I could listen to you all day long!
You did this topic dirty. Wow. Completely.
hi! A great video for sure. Well researched! You blew me away with the Darwin reference.
I don't care for the painting though. The quality of his art is stunning, yes. But the subject not so much.
Anyways, great channel.
I've been hoping for your thoughts on The Blue Boy by Gainsborough. I went all through your channel looking for it and didn't find it. I did notice that the only portrait that you've done is The Girl with a Pearl Earing. Which, I love.
Is there a reason you only do landscape aspect type art? I know it fits on the screen better, but that's no real reason, IMHO. js
Subscribed.
I love this channel informative and amusing
Napoleon made one of my ancestors a Marshall of France. He had the titles of; 1st Marquis d'Éguilly, Duc de Magenta and later became the President of the French Republic 1873-1879) Not bad for an Irishman. Sadly I have no title, nor money, and live in Australia. There is an even better version of this Painting, where Bonaparte has a wry smirk on his face. Much more fun than the ones on show here.
It's under Napoleon III and yes he was known to be more deadly than the guillotine during the terror, 30.000 civilians. Not bad at all
Plz do Marie Antoinette self portrait of the chemise.
It's funny that he introduced the presumption of innocence since Marie Antoinette was innocent.
That was earlier.
Wasn't it his revolution that caused her and King Louis to be beheaded?
@@JaneNewAuthor
Presumption of innocence won't save you from a tribunal's death sentence.
After all of your comments on the painting, I was wondering how you could have missed those boots and not have said anything about them.....but then you waited until the very last sentence.
I should have known better. You don't miss a thing. Awesome.
So we all saw the new movie about him? Lol. I knew it wasn't a historical documentary but still entertaining to watch.
I think the way he holds his arm and hand also suggests the pose of the adlocutio that Roman emperors (take the sculpture of Augustus of Primaporta as an example) would do when speaking to their armies. Kind of makes this all the more ironic, considering that it's supposed to be a gesture by a great leader who is inspiring his troops while Napoleon came 2 days later after his army lol
Oh Lawd!❤ I love your channel!
Could you do a video on the painting ‘The Hesitant Fiancée’ by Auguste Toulmouche, please? Thank you love your videos ❤️❤️
this channel is truly underrated.
Can you please do 45 videos per week?
Please no, I have to go to work sometimes 😢
Yes, it was like promotional picture. He crossed in blue grey great coat and donkey. It's common knowledge.
Another fun and entertaining video! Thank you so much! Can you please do Fairy Fellers Master Stoke?! Preeeety please???
Such great content and so well written and presented. Who are you? Tell us about your art education? Your inspiration to create your channel?
PMS hitting so hard that I'm crying after Napoleon's quote with food I'm my mouth. Ps. Tears are not stopping.
Love your voice, love your wit and love your info! Keep 'em coming!
I generally don't expect artistic interpretations of real people to actually be 100% accurate. We're no different in modern day, any Biography movie that's made of a famous person is bound to be full of rampant lies and propaganda.
I love how you describe the looks of the paintings, it is very helpful for this sort of video and I feel like it's totally missed in similar videos. :)
Did Goya do a couple Bonapart paintings? I thought Goya had become part of Napoleon painting team. I thought he went from Charles (?)to Bonaparte back to Charles(?).? I’m very new to the art world. I guess it makes sense that the hierarchy would have more than one Painter for themselves.
And a man with severe hemorrhoids, such that leading anyone from horseback in his latter years was very difficult.
Art Deco, my favourite parasocial art critic.
Jacques downloaded some stock photos and made a collage
It’s like he wants to emulate St George, except there’s no dragon 🐉 😂
6:10 i said "Hannibal and Cannibal" out loud😭
This painting style inspired in a Charles V a horse in a Muhberlg battle by TItian in Prado Museum in fact de armor of Charles V is preserved in Royal Armory of Royal Palace of Madrid.
So Jacques Louis David was an instagram filter.
Love the video..fun and entertaining.
He also made a fine cream pastry.
😂😂😂
I love this channel ❤❤❤❤❤❤
This is a gorgeous painting in person. Well composed too. All portraits of powerful people were always flattering and propaganda
if you didn't know who its suppose to protray, its a pretty bombastic movie poster. 😆
It's built like a stallion, but ironically David certainly didn't make the fact obvious. I'd never noticed that before.
Cool to see the painting I bought a magnet from Louvre being analysed 😊
Does anyone else think the ACTUAL portraits of Napoleon look like Elon Musk? 👀👀 Some similarities in dictatorship and tyranny there.
8:06
This is not a painting of Napoleon's coronation. This is a painting of Napoleon placing the crown on Josephine's head during HER coronation.
November 21 saw the auction of one of Napoleon’s hats for $2.1 million. The state of Louisiana is the only state in the country which still adheres to the Napoleonic Code (of law).