Napoleon Crossing the Alps

Jacques-Louis David rendered this Napoleon Crossing the Alps between 1801 and 1805, creating the definitive propaganda image of Napoleon Bonaparte. The general sits on a rearing horse atop the Great St. Bernard Pass, his cape billowing dramatically while he points forward toward Italy. The names of previous great commanders who crossed the Alps, Hannibal and Charlemagne, appear carved in rocks below.

In reality, Napoleon crossed on a mule in calm weather, but he commissioned David to show him "calm on a fiery steed." David painted five versions for Napoleon to place in royal palaces across Europe. Each varies slightly in the color of Napoleon's cloak and the horse's coloring.

The painting exemplifies Neoclassical heroic portraiture, with idealized anatomy and theatrical composition. The original version hangs at the Château de Malmaison near Paris. Other versions are at Versailles, the Belvedere in Vienna, the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, and the Château de Versailles.