Bonaparte Crossing the Alps
Paul Delaroche · 1848
The story
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 an 1848–1850 oil painting by French artist Paul Delaroche. 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 in an attempt to surprise the Austrian army in Italy.
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.
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" rather than a mule, crossing Great St. Bernard Pass.
- Artist
- Paul Delaroche
- Date
- 1848
- Collection
- Louvre, Paris, France
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Size
- 289 × 222 cm
Story adapted from the Wikipedia article and its contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
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