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Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps

History

Bonaparte Crossing the Alps at Grand-Saint-Bernard, 1801, Jacques-Louis David, French, 1748-1825, oil on canvas, 102 3/4 x 87in.

Bonaparte Crossing the Alps at Grand-Saint-Bernard, 1801, Jacques-Louis David, French, 1748-1825, oil on canvas, 102 3/4 x 87in.

Representational portraiture in the European tradition was closely associated with class, authority and influence. A portrait might commemorate a key historical event, as in this painting, which used as its starting point a celebrated painting of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte by the Neo-Classical painter Jacques-Louis David. Capturing the dramatic moment when Napoleon led his army across the Alps to expand his empire into Italy, the painting functioned as a celebration of Napoleon’s new claim to power following the French Revolution.

Wiley dramatically assigns these symbols of authority to his sitter, casting a stark light on the absence of black leaders from historical portraiture and seeking to rectify this imbalance in his work.