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| Bonaparte crossing the Great Saint-Bernard | |
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| General description | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Jacques-Louis David |
| Dating | 1800 |
| Materials | oil on canvas |
| Gender | Equestrian portrait historical painting  |
| size | 260 × 221 cm |
| Location | Malmaison Castle , National Castle Museum, Rueil Malmaison |
| Artistic current | neoclasicism |
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Bonaparte crossing the Grand Saint-Bernard ( French: Bonaparte franchissant le Grand-Saint-Bernard ) is an equestrian portrait of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte painted by Jacques-Louis David between 1800 and 1803 . Napoleon is depicted crossing the Great Saint-Bernard mountain pass with the reserve army, an episode that marks the beginning of the second campaign in Italy .
David painted five versions of this portrait, the first of which was commissioned by King Charles IV of Spain as a testimony of good understanding between his kingdom and the French Republic . The next three versions were commissioned by the First Consul for propaganda purposes and were the official portraits of Napoleon I. They were placed in the Castle of Saint-Cloud , the library of the Invalides Dome and the palace of the Cisalpine Republic . The latest version was not ordered by anyone and was kept by David until his death.
Archetypes of the propaganda portrait, the versions of the painting have been reproduced many times in engravings, as proof of a significant posterity. This portrait influenced artists such as Antoine-Jean Gros and Théodore Géricault .
The paintings are preserved today at the National Museum of Malmaison Castle (260 x 221 cm), at Charlottenburg Castle in Berlin (260 x 226 cm), at the National Museum of Versailles Castle (two versions: 271 x 232 cm and 267 x 230 cm) and at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna (264 x 232 cm).
Initially titled Equestrian Portrait of the First Consul, represented as he passes the Alps at Mount Saint-Bernard on the 30th Floreal year VIII , in 30 floreal, year VIII) [named in its various versions and Le Premier Consul franchissant les Alpes au col du Grand-Saint-Bernard (First Consul crossing the Alps through the Saint-Bernard Pass), Napoléon passant le mont Saint-Bernard (Napoleon passing on Mount Saint-Bernard), Bonaparte au Grand Saint-Bernard (Bonaparte at Grand Saint-Bernard), Le passage du Saint-Bernard (Passing through Saint-Bernard) orBonaparte gravissant le Saint-Bernard (Bonaparte climbing Mount Saint-Bernard)], the work of art was originally commissioned by King Charles IV of Spain . The latter, through the French ambassador to Spain Charles-Jean-Marie Alquier , appealed to the painter Jacques-Louis David on August 7, 1800, to make a portrait of the First Consul, in order to place him in the salon of the "Great Captains" from the Royal Palace in Madrid . [1] With this gesture, the King of Spain wanted to greet the cordial relations and political and military cooperation between the two states. The painting remains in Madrid after the dethronement of King Charles IV by Napoleon, being noted in the royal palace ofAbel Hugo , page of Joseph Bonaparte , the new king of Spain:
"While waiting for the king's arrival, Aristizabal drew my attention to the paintings that decorated the room where we were, and which I admired: you could see, among other things, a very beautiful copy of a painting of David, the one in which represented General Bonaparte crossing the Alps in the faded footsteps of Hannibal and Charlemagne . I would have thought that this painting was placed in the palace after Joseph had ascended the throne of Spain, but Aristizabal told me no, for he had been present when the portrait of the First Consul was hung in the place he still occupied, and Charles IV himself. he had presided over this inauguration. The poor king did not realize that putting the portrait in this room meant removing his throne from it [2] ! ”
In 1812, the painting is taken by Joseph Bonaparte when he flees Spain and accompanies him into exile in the United States , being hung in his residence in Point-Breeze. [3] The portrait is given to his daughter Zénaïde Bonaparte , Princess of Canino, who then exhibits it in Villa Bonaparte (formerly known as Villa Paolina), the residence of the Princes of Canino in Rome . [4] The painting was kept by his descendants until 1949 , when it was bequeathed by his niece Eugénie Bonaparte, Princess of Moscow , to the National Museum in Malmaison Castle (inventory MM 7149). [5]
Informed of Charles IV's order, Bonaparte asked David to make three replicas of the painting: the second version, intended for the Castle of Saint-Cloud ( 1801 ), was exhibited together with the first version at the Louvre. . Brought to the palace in 1802 , first in the Salon of Mars, then in the throne room, it was taken in June 1814 by Prussian soldiers of General von Blücher who offered it to King Frederick Wilhelm III of Prussia . He placed it in Charlottenburg Castle in 1816 (GKI inventory 913). [6]
The third version was intended for the library of the Invalides Dome in 1802. It was received there by retirees with a great ceremony in the sound of cannons and in the presence of the painter and his assistant, Georges Rouget . It is said that during the ceremony, the painter said to him: "A few cannon shots are for you, my friend" [7] ". The painting was then deposited in the annexes of the building during the Restoration . Located in 1830 in the Castle of Saint-Cloud, it was then exhibited, in 1837 , by King Louis-Philippe I , in the Museum of the History of the Castle of Versailles (Marengo inventory room MV 1567). [6]
The fourth version was commissioned for the Milanese palace of the Cisalpine Republic. Initially, it was a question of creating an allegory entitled Bonaparte , reviving the Cisalpine Republic , but the Italian government abandoned the project because of the painter's financial claims, which were considered too high. The government accepted a replica of the equestrian portrait instead of an allegory. The director of the museums, Dominique-Vivant Denon , was commissioned on March 29, 1803 to send the portrait of Napoleon to the young Italian Republic and its vice-president, Francesco Melzi d'Eril :
„8 germinal year XI, to the citizen Melzi, vice-president of the Italian Republic.Director General of the Central Museum of Arts to the citizen Melzi, Vice President of the Italian Republic. Citizen Vice-President,
I am glad, Citizen Vice-President, that this circumstance puts me in a position to remember me and the friendship with which you honored me. ”
I have the honor to inform you that I am instructed by the First Consul to send you a painting by David to be placed in the Palace of the Republic in Milan, which represents him as he crosses the Saint-Bernard Pass. I carefully packed the painting and sent it to the citizen Marescalchi , the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic, urging him to find an opportunity to get it to you as soon as possible.
Delivered in 1803 , the painting was confiscated by the Austrians in 1816 , [8] but was still stored in Milan in the 1825s, and the Milanese refused to hand it over to the Austrians. [9] The painting was installed in the Belvedere Palace in Vienna in 1834 . Exhibited for a long time at the Museum of Art History in Vienna , [10] it was returned to the palace in the 1990s (ÖG 2089 inventory).
A fifth version (the National Museum of the Castle of Versailles ) was made by David, who remained in his successive workshops in Paris and during his exile in Brussels. At the painter's death, the painting hung on the opposite side of his bed. Unsuccessfully put up for sale by his family in 1826 , it was bought by Baroness Pauline Jeanin, David's daughter, in 1835 . Exhibited in 1846 in the Bonne-Nouvelle Bazaar, where it was noted by Baudelaire , it was offered in 1850 by Baroness Jeanin to President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, the future Emperor Napoleon III . [11]The latter intended to place it on the staircase of Saint-Cloud Castle to replace the equestrian portrait of Louis-Philippe I in 1856 , [12] but the work of art was eventually placed in the Palace. Tuileries . As part of the civil list, the painting passed, after the abdication of Napoleon III, into the hands of Prince Napoleon Jerome , who hung it in the Castle of Prangins . In 1979 , the painting was ceded by Prince Louis Napoleon to the Castle of Versailles (inventory MV 8550).
The five versions of the painting are large and close (2.6 x 2.2 meters). Napoleon is depicted on horseback, in the uniform of a chief general, wearing a bicorn with gold gallons, armed with a sword similar to those used by the Mamluks and covered with a wind-swollen cloak that raises his folds. In his left hand he holds the reed with which he strings the horse that is riding. Turning his face to the viewer, Napoleon pointed in the right direction. In the background are soldiers climbing the mountain slope and firing cannons after them. In the lower right you can see the fluttering tricolor flag. In the foreground, the names BONAPARTE , ANNIBAL and KAROLVS MAGNVS IMP are engraved on the rocks . The work is signed and datedL. DAVID AN IX on the belt that holds the horse's chest tight.
The first copy from Malmaison shows Bonaparte with an orange-yellow mantle, the sleeve of the glove is embroidered, the horse's hair is rotated, the harness is complete, the bridle is also provided with a leash strap, the strap on the belly is dark red. The officer holding a sword in the background is masked by the ponytail. Napoleon's face looks youthful.
The Charlottenburg specimen has a bright red coat. The horse's hair is brown, the bridle is simple, without the leash strap, the strap on the belly is gray-blue. The landscape is covered with snow. Napoleon's features are tougher. The painting is signed L.DAVID L'AN IX .
In the Versailles specimen, the horse's hair is white with light spots, the harness is identical to that of Charlottenburg, the color of the strap on the belly is blue. The glove embroidery is simplified, the cuff is visible under the glove, as in the case of officers. The landscape is dark. Napoleon's expression is harsher. The painting is not signed.
The Belvedere specimen is almost identical to the Versailles specimen, Napoleon's face is even harsher. The painting is signed JLDAVID L.ANNO X .
The second copy from Versailles shows a rotated horse, the bridle is complete, but without the leash strap, the strap on the belly is red. The coat is red-orange, the collar is black, the embroidery of the gloves is barely visible, the scarf fabric is light blue. The officer is again masked by the ponytail. Napoleon's face is less young, with a slight smile, and his hair is shorter. Through its shape and embroidery design, the bicorn pattern is similar to that worn by the generals of the Empire . [13] The undated painting is signed by L. DAVID . It should be mentioned that here Napoleon is seen in the counter - dive , while in the other versions he appears in frontal perspective.
Bonaparte's coup d'etat of 18 and 19 Brumar year VIII taking place in the particularly difficult context of the wars of the second coalition (1799-1800), Bonaparte first of all had to restore order in the country. He radically changed the military situation, succeeding in the extremes in defeating the Austrians at Marengo on June 14, 1800 . This partial victory was turned into a decisive battle due to a particularly effective propaganda, to which also contributed the picture in which David illustrated the famous episode of the crossing of the Alps by Bonaparte's army.
By crossing the Alps by the reserve army on May 13, 1800 , Napoleon intervenes in the second campaign in Italy launched by the reoccupation of the city of Milan by the Austrians. He was to surprise the Austrians led by General Melas and attack them, taking advantage of the surprise effect. Together with the army reserve, he passes up Grand Saint-Bernard, while the Army Corps of General Moncey through Gotthard Pass and general body Turre turn to step Montgenèvre . On May 18, Bonaparte left Martignyand set out for the Grand Saint-Bernard pass. On May 20, dressed in a blue uniform covering a white frock coat, and wearing a wax-covered bicorn, riding a mule and accompanied by the Dorsaz guide, he crosses the steep mountain top trails.
Between May 15 and 21, troops climb the mountains and transport tons of equipment, as well as cannons housed in empty tree trunks to be carried more easily. The artillery was delayed by Austrian resistance at the Bard fort , but the rest of the army reached the first major battle at Montebello .
Napoleon stated [14] :
"We are fighting ice, snow, storms and avalanches. Saint-Bernard, amazed to see so many people crossing it so suddenly, faces some obstacles. ”—Napoleon Bonaparte, May 18, 1800
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Napoleon's recapture of Italy favored the rapprochement with Spain under King Charles IV . Interests were mutual, the king wanted to enlarge the Duchy of Parma and instead agreed to cede Louisiana , but Napoleon also wanted the help of Spain in his war against England. To this end, French Ambassador Charles-Jean-Marie Alquier , a former conventionalist , regicide and friend of David, initiates with Talleyrand , the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the return to a tradition inherited from the Old Regime.: the custom of diplomatic gifts. The First Consul offers the king pistols made in Versailles, dresses of the great Parisian tailors and jewelry for the queen, and also a superb armor for the influential Prince Manuel Godoy . In turn, Charles IV offers Napoleon sixteen Spanish-bred horses from his royal stables, his portrait and that of the queen made by Goya , and orders David to make a portrait of the First Consul.
This policy of co-operation with an increasingly powerful First Consul did not prevent the dethronement of Charles IV in 1808 in favor of Napoleon's own brother, Joseph Bonaparte .
