The famous canvas of David, The coronation of Napoleon. – Bangumi
- The documentary Napoleon the influencer is broadcast this Friday at 8:50 p.m. on France 5.
- It shows how art helped fuel the emperor’s propaganda, but also how much, long after his death, this historical figure continues to inspire artists and popular culture.
- Celebrating the bicentenary of her death also means bringing up controversies about her: looting of works, repression of women’s rights in its Civil Code, etc.
What if Napoleon Bonaparte was the instagrammer of his time? This is the angle approached by Napoleon the influencer, broadcast this Friday at 8:50 p.m. on France 5. Represented on paintings, coins, plates, in sculpture, in films or even in biscuits, the emperor set himself up as a pioneer of propaganda through images .
Two hundred years after his death, he continues to fascinate the artists who stage him from his rise to his fall. Here are a few examples drawn from those mentioned in the documentary.
The Coronation of Napoleon, the most admired painting at the Louvre after Mona Lisa, is a perfect illustration of the fascination of artists for Bonaparte. If we take a closer look at the work of Jacques Louis David, we discover that some distinguished guests such as Julius Caesar or Letizia Bonaparte, Napoleon’s mother, slipped into the audience of the ceremony. The first, for obvious reasons, did not attend the coronation, but the second, although then very much alive, was not present either that day. It is a flattery of the painter towards the emperor resembling Photoshop before the hour …
Napoleon also inspired the composers of his time. In 1803, Beethoven, fascinated by his libertarian side, intended to dedicate his Symphony No. 3. But when he learned that the First Consul had been crowned emperor, he was furious. He then canceled his dedication and went so far as to replace the triumphal march movement with a funeral march. A century and a half later, Napoleon became a pop musical inspiration, when in 1974 the Swedish group ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo. The tube refers … to the only Napoleonic defeat.
More than a thousand. This is the number of films and TV films made around the character of Napoleon since the invention of cinema, which saw the light of day several decades after his death. Charlie Chaplin spent ten years of his life directing a film about Napoleon. But it was without counting on the arrival to power of Hitler, whose farcesque derivative replaced that of the emperor in the leading role of the Dictator. Only a few Napoleonic inspirations have been preserved in the film, such as the mythical scene of the world map showing the main character proclaiming himself “emperor of the world”.
Two hundred years after his death, art continues to take hold of the character of Napoleon by highlighting his ambiguity. Celebrating its bicentenary is also bringing up controversies about it: looting of works, repression of women’s rights in its Civil Code … Other facets, beyond the cult of his personality, explored in the documentary Napoleon the influencer.