Bonaparte Crossing the Alps

This article is about the painting by Paul Delaroche. For the painting by Jacques-Louis David, see Napoleon Crossing the Alps.
Bonaparte Crossing the Alps
ArtistPaul Delaroche
Year1850
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions289 cm × 222 cm (114 in × 87 in)
LocationWalker Art Gallery[1], Liverpool

Bonaparte Crossing the Alps (sometimes called Napoleon Crossing the Alps, which is also the title of Jacques-Louis David's better-known version of the subject) is a 1848–1850[2] oil painting by French artist Paul Delaroche.[3][4] The painting depicts Napoleon Bonaparte leading his army through the Alps on a mule,[I] a journey Napoleon and his army of soldiers made in the spring of 1800[5] in an attempt to surprise the Austrian army in Italy.[6][7] Several versions of this painting exist: in the Louvre- Lens and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England. Queen Victoria owned a small version of it.[8]

The work was inspired by Jacques-Louis David's series of five paintings of Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1801–1805), which present a glorified vision of Napoleon "calm on a spirited horse"[9] rather than a mule, crossing Great St. Bernard Pass.

  1. ^ "Napoleon Crossing the Alps, Artwork details". Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  2. ^ "'Napoleon Crossing the Alps', Paul Delaroche (1797–1856)". Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
  3. ^ "DELAROCHE, Paul – Bonaparte Crossing the Alps". Retrieved 5 August 2007.
  4. ^ "Bonaparte Crossing the Alps 1848". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
  5. ^ Kelley, T.M. p.207
  6. ^ Britt, A.B. p.18
  7. ^ The American Whig Review p.455
  8. ^ Bann, Stephen, 'Delaroche, Napoleon and English Collectors', Apollo, October 2005, 28
  9. ^ Munhall, Edgar (1960). "Portraits of Napoleon". Yale French Studies (26): 3–20. doi:10.2307/2929218. ISSN 0044-0078. JSTOR 2929218.