The Coronation of Napoleon
Jacques-Louis David · 1806–1807
The Coronation of Napoleon, officially titled The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of Empress Joséphine, is one of the most monumental paintings in the Louvre. Commissioned by Napoleon I himself, Jacques-Louis David began work on this vast canvas in 1805, completing it in 1807. The painting captures the moment during Napoleon's coronation ceremony at Notre-Dame Cathedral on December 2, 1804, when Napoleon crowned Empress Joséphine.
David depicts the ceremony with meticulous attention to detail, including the portraits of over 150 identifiable figures present at the event. Notably, Napoleon is shown crowning Joséphine rather than himself, a deliberate deviation from the actual ceremony where Napoleon famously took the crown from Pope Pius VII and placed it on his own head. The composition masterfully balances the grandeur of the occasion with intimate personal moments.
The painting required three years of intensive work and measures over 6 by 9 meters. David organized the vast number of figures into a coherent composition using a warm palette of golds, crimsons, and whites that evoke the splendor of the imperial court. It remains one of the finest examples of political art in Western painting.
