Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria
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Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

ngv.vic.gov.au
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108 Thomas Charles NAUDET French 1773–1810 The French army crossing Great St Bernard Pass Passage du col de Saint-Bernard par l’armée française Consular period 1799–1804 pen and ink, wash Fondation Napoléon, Paris Acquisition 2008 inv. 1172 Situating his composition near the Great St Bernard hospice, Naudet shows in this drawing the reality of the difficult conditions of the crossing. The path had to be widened, bridges reinforced, and all of the armaments carried at shoulder height. Tree trunks were hollowed out to transport the disassembled cannon, which were dragged by mules and, when they became exhausted or died, teams of a hundred men. Naudet’s composition stands in marked contrast to Jacques-Louis David’s heroicised version of Napoleon crossing the Alps. © COPYRIGHT This document remains the property of the National Gallery of Victoria and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.

NAPOLEON AS EMPEROR: THE CORONATION, 1804 On 18 May 1804 the French Senate proclaimed First Consul Bonaparte to be Emperor Napoleon I. Not content with this secular appointment, Napoleon also felt the need for divine approbation through religious consecration. Seven months later, a lavish coronation ceremony for himself and Josephine was held in Notre Dame Cathedral on 2 December 1804, with Pope Pius VII in attendance. Napoleon thus set himself alongside the royalty of Europe and went one better by becoming an Emperor, whose descendants would rule France just as he had. In establishing this Empire, he took on all the panoply of the ancien régime. The court was now reintroduced, along with the establishment of the military honour system (the marshals – an eminently royal and medieval title) and the Légion d’honneur or Legion of Honour, thereby stealthily reintroducing ideas of social order that had been the bane of the Revolution. The etiquette for the new Imperial Court used the old royal etiquette books, adapting them for Napoleon’s purposes. Not shown in David’s famous painting of the coronation (Musée du Louvre) – in fact, it was painted out – but present in David’s cartoon in this room, was Napoleon notoriously crowning himself. A myth grew up around this act, namely that it was an extraordinary gesture of hubris, before a shocked pontiff. The shock and hubris are, however, all additions to the story. In fact, the complicated hybrid liturgy compiled for Napoleon’s coronation on 2 December 1804 was produced by a committee of French and papal negotiators. Each gesture and prayer had been carefully debated and agreed upon beforehand. 109 © COPYRIGHT This document remains the property of the National Gallery of Victoria and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.

108<br />

Thomas Charles NAUDET<br />

French 1773–1810<br />

The French army crossing<br />

Great St Bernard Pass<br />

Passage du col de Saint-Bernard<br />

par l’armée française<br />

Consular period 1799–1804<br />

pen and ink, wash<br />

Fondation Napoléon, Paris<br />

Acquisition 2008 inv. 1172<br />

Situating his composition near the Great<br />

St Bernard hospice, Naudet shows in this<br />

drawing the reality <strong>of</strong> the difficult conditions<br />

<strong>of</strong> the crossing. The path had to be widened,<br />

bridges reinforced, and all <strong>of</strong> the armaments<br />

carried at shoulder height. Tree trunks were<br />

hollowed out to transport the disassembled<br />

cannon, which were dragged by mules and,<br />

when they became exhausted or died, teams<br />

<strong>of</strong> a hundred men. Naudet’s composition<br />

stands in marked contrast to Jacques-Louis<br />

David’s heroicised version <strong>of</strong> Napoleon<br />

crossing the Alps.<br />

© COPYRIGHT<br />

This document remains the property <strong>of</strong> the <strong>National</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Victoria</strong> and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.

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