This Iconic Napoleon Painting Tricked Everyone

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!

English subtitles by Margarida Mariz

credits:

Arcadia - Wonders by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100326
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Darkest Child by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100783
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

cloud effect from Vecteezy

This is Napoleon Bonaparte.

He's cool, he's confident,
he's hot, he's...

What?

This piece is called
"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.

It's so pretty though,
it can't be that bad, right?

Settle in and grab some chicken Marengo.

Things are about to get wild.

Napoleon emerges front and center
mounted on a wild stallion.

He's cool as a cucumber,
bathed in an Angelic light

that seems to come from the heavens.

His bright red cloak
bubbles up around him

as a brisk wind thrusts
his brown hair across his face,

framing his deep set eyes.

His left hand grips the rains,

his right hand points toward
the steep snowy mountaintops,

as if he's commanded them
into their present form.

The weather is terrible.

His horse is practically
foaming at the mouth.

Soldiers are scaling
the treacherous cliffs in the distance

and Napoleon is just like

"Hold my beer!"

Maybe you know Napoleon
as a short hot headed man

with an ego the size of Europe,

but maybe you didn't know
he was so hot.

"Oh my!"

And that's because he wasn't.

But, to be fair,
he also wasn't that short either.

He was 5'7" which was around
average height for his time,

a little short for a general though.

Napoleon thought that posing
for this portrait wasn't worth his time

even telling Jacques-Louis-David

"Nobody knows if the portraits
of great men resemble them.

"It's enough
that their genius lives there."

So, David made do with what he had.

The artist asked his son
to pose for the portrait on a ladder

wearing Napoleon's uniform

which is probably why he looks
so young and so full of shark

Napoleon wasn't just
a genius military commander,

he was also a master propagandist

and this painting is no exception.

Here's the key.

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 by Paul Delaroche

created around half a century
after David's piece

is a much more accurate depiction

of what Napoleon's voyage
actually looked like.

So, how did we get here?

Let's take a trip back to the time
and place of Napoleon's birth

The island of Corsica in the year 1769...

(Cough) Oh, sorry.

...it's actually over here.

The island of Corsica
is off the coast of France and Italy.

Though Napoleon was still born
a French citizen,

since the island had been seized by France

just a year before he was born,

when he was sent
to boarding school in France.

at the age f nine,

all the kids made fun of his accent
and thought he was weird.

But the bullying didn't stop him

and Napoleon graduated
went to military school

and then became an artillery officer.

So, what was France even like
during this time?

Imagine a world where the king,
the queen and the super rich

pay nothing in taxes

and throw lavish parties every night

while the poor are literally
starving to death

and working all the time.

Welcome to France in the 18th century.

What's more the government
had accumulated a lot of debt

and decided that in order to pay for it

they would tax the poor even more.

I think it goes without saying
that the poor were peeved, really peeved

and they even started to question
whether they needed a king at all.

In the 18th century you couldn't come
into a position of power

unless you were born into it.

This harsh reality started
to sink in for Napoleon

as he attempted
to climb the ranks in the military.

He realized that nobody gave a frantic
feline about his talent and hard work,

Meritocracy who? We don't know her.

The only chance he had
of climbing the ranks

was a shakeup to the entire system,

a revolution perhaps.

And as fate would have it,

that's exactly what he got

In May 1789 the French Revolution began.

Napolean fought for the Revolution

and through the combination
of a volatile political climate,

some impressive military leadership

and opportunistic political maneuvering,

he climbed all the way to the top

and in 1799 he was granted
the title of First Consul,

making him the most powerful man
in France.

But as Napoleon got busy
reforming the government,

the French army was struggling

trying to fight the austrians in Italy.

This was simply unacceptable
for Napoleon, who said:

"A newly born government
must dazzle and astonish.

"When it ceases to do that, it fails."

So, Napoleon left France
to dazzle and astonish,

as a military commander once more.

Napoleon was a successful military leader
for a few reasons.

For one, his men respected him

because he not only believed in them,

he fought alongside them

but also because he was clever
and innovative in his tactics

and capitalized
on the element of surprise.

There are two ways
to get into Italy from France

the Piemonte region, which is easy

and where any sane commander
would cross with their troops

or the northern route through Switzerland,
through the Alps,

Crossing through the Alps with an army
was a very risky thing to do.

For one thing, the mountains
are steep and treacherous

and a single snowstorm or landslide
can be devastating .

Maybe you can guess
the route that Napoleon took.

Only two commanders in history

had successfully led their forces
across the Alps

and Napoleon wanted
to make sure everyone knew that.

So, he told David to include the names
of the other two great commanders,

Charlemagne and Hannibal

which appear to be carved into the rocks,

to the bottom left of the painting.

And you'll notice the position
slightly above both of them

is Napoleon's nam.

This painting depicts this event,
formerly 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 reestablish diplomatic relations

and this portrait was actually
commissioned by King Charles

and gifted to Napoleon.

Maybe you noticed that this piece
is slightly different

from the painting we've been looking
at the whole video.

Napoleon requested David to make him
three more versions of this portrait

and this is technically the third version

but I like it better than the original.

What do you think?

It turns out that David
was kind of obsessed with Napoleon,

so, he made a fifth version
to keep in his studio.

Jacques-Louis-David
was a super talented artist.

I mean, look at this.

Are you serious?

But how could anyone look at art like this
and called David a sellout?

David hated the French monarchy

and was a staunt supporter
of the Revolution.

He was among the hundreds of men

who voted to send King Louis XVI
to the guillotine.

He was a member
of the extremist Jacobian group

and created political propaganda
paintings on their behalf.

David was even arrested
at one point

for his alignment with the group
during the Revolution.

What's confusing is that the artist
remained loyal to Napoleon

throughout his rise

and after he became emperor,
David was made first court painter

and the propaganda pieces
just kept coming,

like this painting
of Napoleon's coronation

and this painting titled

"The Emperor Napoleon
in his Study at the Tuileries".

The candles have almost burned out,

the clock reads 4:13 in the morning,

Emperor Napoleon stayed up all night

working on the Napoleonic Code.

That's what he wants us to think anyway.

David held his allegiance to Napoleon
until the bitter end

and when the former Emperor
was exiled from France,

David was exiled as well.

Many have raised doubts
about David's 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 Bonaparte was one of the most
controversial figures that ever lived.

and rightfully so, he reinstated slavery

after it was already abolished,

he stripped away the few rights
women had been able to obtain

during the Revolution.

He died with a lot of blood
on his hands

in his quest to conquer Europe
and take over the world

but he also introduced legal reforms

such as the presumption of innocence
until proven guilty,

freedom of religion
and educational advancements,

including the integration of science
into curricula,

all of which remain cornerstones
of modern society.

For better or for worse we see the signs

of Napoleon's presence
in the world even today.

Napoleon may not have set
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,

in Napoleon's own words:

"I found the crown of France
lying in the gutter

"and I picked it up with my sword

"but it was the people
who placed it on my head."

Napoleon is immortalized
in David's painting

as a man who urges us to follow him,

a man who remains calm on a fiery steed,

a man who leads his soldiers
even in the worst of conditions,

a man with the power
to command the mountains

and perhaps more importantly
the power to command those boots too.