Napoleon Through Art

Those that have known me for a fair amount of time are well aware of my infatuation with Napoleon Bonaparte. I have been a huge fan of the erstwhile French Emperor for about four and a half years; it all began during middle school when the whims of my mind took to history instead of science, which I had previously been deeply passionate about (I still am, but to a lesser extent than topics like history or philosophy). Military history particularly caught my interests, and, of course, any student of military history must have some knowledge of the man many regard to be the greatest commander of all time. Since then, while I have studied a vast array of topics on military history throughout the entire human journey, I have concentrated about (at least) half of my time studying Napoleonic warfare. In the process of learning about Napoleon's campaigns and his shrewd tactical and strategic mind, I have also learned about Napoleon the man and Napoleon the statesman. Essentially, I have acquired a deep knowledge on many aspects of his life and the times in which he lived. Why Napoleon? Why have I devoted so much of my time to a guy that's been dead for around 184 years? I'm not really sure actually, just as many of us aren't exactly sure about why we or others do certain things. His wars piqued my interests initially, and then, as I found out more and more about the long list of accomplishments he had to his name, I found what could be called a hero. Napoleon's influence is truly difficult to overstate (although, believe me, it can be done): he is one of the greatest military commanders of all time (this is being diplomatic, since I would rank him as #1), he instituted a Civil Code which has formed the basis of national law for over 70 countries (the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825 was modeled after this one, and although it has since gone through many revisions, the basic precepts remain), and he even did things which compared to aforementioned and other accomplishments would seem paltry, but which we nonetheless feel the influence of and cherish everyday, one being the idea of placing odd-numbered and even-numbered buildings on different sides of streets, a materialization which we see every day we drive. A serious list of his accomplishments and failures is beyond the scope of this post, so let that be it for now (undoubtedly, I will write more on him later).

Napoleon was also a great propagandist. He was very effective at making as good a publicity come out of his triumphs as possible. One way in which he did this was through heavily romanticized and idealized portraits and war paintings, many of which he personally ordered and supervised (for example, he would tell the painter the size of the frame he wanted, where the characters should go, how the lighting should be worked, or maybe even what colors the horses would be). I am an avid fan of the Romantic Era, partly because Napoleon did so much for it and partly because I simply love the poetry, the Beethoven, and all the literature that came out of that spectacular period. I also particularly love the paintings, and, even more particularly, Napoleonic paintings. Today, I will share with you some of my favorites and the stories behind them.

(source: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/images/Meissonier.jpg )

Take a good look at this painting: what does it remind you of? If you said anything to do with Russia, congratulations! You are wrong. Done by Ernest Meissonier, this picture features Napoleon at a time when Europe's tidal forces are ebbing against him. It is winter in 1814, and here Napoleon leads a column of his marshals flanked by the beleaguered French army fighting to save its homeland from around 400,000 Allied troops. The disaster in Russia two years ago and the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 have left Napoleon with around 75,000 soldiers of far poorer quality when compared to past armies he has commanded. The situation is bleak: Wellington invades from the South and the main Allied thrust comes through Eastern France. Although Napoleon's commanding in this campaign epitomizes his genius, especially during February and the Six Days Campaign, where he inflicts 20,000 casualties on the Prussian army led by Blucher through a series of brilliantly coordinated battles, the odds are too heavy and eventually France loses. Allied forces enter Paris on March 31st and Napoleon's commanders refuse to continue fighting, leading to his abdication at Fontainebleu on April 6th. He is taken to the island of Elba and made Governor, although the European powers allow him to retain the title of 'Emperor.' He escapes in 1815, forces Louis XVIII to flee, and becomes Emperor once more. However, the Congress of Vienna labels him an 'outlaw' and mobilizes to end his rule once and forever. Napoleon is eventually defeated at the famous Battle of Waterloo by a Prussian and Anglo-Dutch army and then surrenders himself to the British, who take him to a remote island in the South Atlantic called St. Helena. Why, being a huge fan of Napoleon, would I consider this one of my favorite paintings of the man? Well, believe it or not, it is good to share the bad and the good, and although this painting here may not show it very well because it's small, Napoleon's grim face almost perfectly captures the mood he was probably in during these ignominious times. This painting is a way to connect with him during those hard moments; just look at his eyes, they will tell the story....

(source: http://aigleconquerant.free.fr/galerie/napberlin.jpg )

Full of pomp and resplendence, the victorious French army enters Berlin headed by the 'Little Corsican' himself. This picture takes place in 1806 following the colossal drubbing the 'Grande Armee' has given a Prussian army which many observers throughout Europe considered to be the best on the continent. Napoleon defeats one of the the Prussian armies at Jena and one of his Marshals, Davout, defeats the much larger Prussian force at Auerstadt. After these two confrontations, which occurred on the same day, French cavalry led by the ever flamboyant Murat pursue the Prussians for miles on end. When it's all said and done, practically all units of the theoretically great Prussian military machine have either been killed or captured. It is one of the worst military defeats in German history, and Prussia will remember the long lines of surrendered soldiers for a long time to come, partially setting up the stage for a half-century of bitter Franco-German rivalry that required two world wars to stabilize.

(source: http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/g/gros1.jpg )

This one has to rank as one of the greatest military paintings of all time. Antoine-Jean Gros brilliantly portrays the then General of Italy at the Bridge of Arcole, where Napoleon bravely leads the troops across and captures the Austrians positions defending the town. That's how the story goes; in reality, only Massena crossed the Bridge at Arcole, Napoleon merely watching from the other bank and giving orders (but nonetheless he was very involved in directing the battle). This is part of the great propaganda I mentioned earlier; Napoleon takes this moment and realizes it could mean great things for perceptions, so he orders a fabulous fabrication that has captured our imaginations ever since. He did, however, cross one bridge in a charge during the First Italian Campaign (1796-1797): that occurred at Lodi, a place where it is said Napoleon gained immense confidence following his victory, and an event of which he later wrote (heavily paraphrased), "For once I never felt like just a general, but like a force controlling the hopes of people, being the object of their dreams, and the motto of their desires." This campaign in Italy is his first in independent command and it is here that he first displays his genius en masse and establishes the two central tenets of his war-making (even though he always claimed there was nothing theoretical about war or that he didn't come into fights with pre-determined strategies): The Central Strategic Position, whereby he would use the dependable French skirmishers to drive two Allied armies apart, and then, were this to prove successful, he would follow up with "Les Manouvres sur Les Derriers," or flanking motions that turned and destroyed the weakened and disoriented enemy armies. Although this may have seemed predictable (indeed, many historians have accused Napoleon of this), he employed it with such ingenuity and dynamism in every campaign that his enemies might as well have thought he was concocting something new.

(source: http://www.millikin.edu/history/202/images/austerlitzbattle.jpg )

This legendary painting portrays Napoleon at the greatest victory of his career: the Battle of Austerlitz (1805). Francois Gerard does a great job at revealing a monolothic and herculean Napoleon basking in the glory of victory not with jubilation and nonsensical celebration, but with the composure and posture worthy of a historically great conqueror. The painting shows the moment when General Rapp (a cavalry commander) brings to Napoleon the captured Austrian standards. At this time, battalion flags that each unit carried into battle were considered tremendously important and presitigous, so it's easy to imagine, with the French having captured so many Austrian flags, how lavish this moment was. Many historians consider the Battle of Austerlitz to be the most militarily decisive battle of the Napoleonic Era (1799-1815), even though Waterloo overshadows it in terms of political worth. A very brief account of the battle: Napoleon dupes the combined Russo-Austrian army of approximately 90,000 troops (numbers on the Allied side have been somewhat controversial lately, but, so as to keep it simple, I will show the figure of 90,000 because it is still the most widely accepted) into attacking his supposedly weak right flank. The Allies don't know that Napoleon has reinforcements coming. Napoleon, meanwhile, launches his main plan, which takes into account the weakness of the Allied center after they have thrown so many forces towards his right, of having 17,000 French troops attack the center. After very heavy fighting, the French break through and eventually the Allied army disintegrates. French casualties are roughly 9,000 while the Allies have lost about 29,000. The spectacular victory forces Austria to sign the Treaty of Pressburg and makes them pay war indemnities to France, cede land to Napoleon's German allies and France herself, and it pretty much serves to abolish the centuries-old Holy Roman Empire. The Emperor of Austria, known as Francis II under the title of Holy Roman Emperor, now simply becomes Francis I. As I did with Waterloo about 12 days ago, I will give a detailed description of this magnificent battle in its 200-year anniversary, which is this December 2nd.

(source: http://www.milartgl.com/Images_b/b_battle_of_friedland.jpg )

A confident Napoleon leads the preparations for what would become the most important battle in the 1807 campaign in Poland: Friedland. Friedland was one of those situational battles; the two armies didn't set up shop in an organized manner like at Austerlitz, but rather developed after Russian General Bennigsen found that Marshal Lannes and his corp were isolated at the town of Friedland, opposite the River Alle. Bennigsen attacked, and from there the scattered French army coalesced and rushed in to seal the deal. The victory led to the Treaty of Tilsit in July, which formalized a peace between France and Russia and brought stability to the European continent after two years of bloodshed. Again, the lighting and the central position of Napoleon are evident in this majestic Horace Vernet piece.

(source: http://uv.es/entresiglos/oleza/image/napoleon.jpg )

With very little doubt, this surely must be the greatest war painting of all time. It certainly is the most recognized. Painted by the indomitable Jacques-Louis David, a regal-looking, red-cloaked, Revolutionary-dressed Napoleon rides a Grey Arab (these were his favorite because of their calmness and stability; in fact, it's easy to notice throughout these paintings that he rides the same type of horse) while crossing the Great St. Bernard's Pass en route to Northern Italy and intending to destroy an Austrian army which has occupied it. The familiar motif of propaganda becomes evident here again, since in reality Napoleon crosses the Alps with a sure-footed mule and wears a fairly typical greatcoat. But, of course, that doesn't make for something to remember, so pointing to the sky in search of Divine Providence or heralding some garganuan achievement while wearing the emblematic "tricouleur" certainly adds appeal. Also, even though it's not visible in this version of the painting, at the lower left of the complete picture are the names "Napoleon" and "Hannibal," both engraved into the rocks of the mountain. Hannibal had led the last army that crossed the Italian Alps; that happened about 2,000 years before Napoleon. This war against Austria marks Napoleon's third major campaign in independent command. He ends up heavily defeating the Austrian army under General Melas at the Battle of Marengo on June 14, 1800, even though in the early stages he came very close to losing. This victory once again spells doom for Austria in Northern Italy and following the Battle of Hohenlinden (December 3, 1800) in Germany, the Austrians sign the Peace of Luneville in 1801, leaving Britain as the only European nation to remain at war with France (they sign the Treaty of Amiens the following year, however, and for the first time in ten years all of Europe is at peace). Napoleon had overthrown the Directory with the aid of loyal troops and his brother Lucien in November of 1799 and had then proceeded to make himself First Consul under the Constitution created in December (there were a total of three consuls under these new provisions). He thus sets himself up as the sole ruler of France, and in five years he becomes the absolute ruler of France, this time going by "L'Empereur."