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Bonaparte franchissant les Alpes

Paul Delaroche, 1848

huile sur toile

289 × 222 cm

Musée du Louvre

Bonaparte franchissant les Alpes est une représentation de Napoleon Bonaparte peinte entre 1848–1850^[1] , par le peintre français Paul Delaroche.^[2] la peinture montre Bonaparte à la tête de son armée traversant les Alpes sur une mule, au printemps 1800,^[3] dans le but de surprendre l'armée autrichienne en Italie.^[4][5]

La peinture est inspiré de l'oeuvre de Jacques-Louis David Bonaparte au Grand-Saint-Bernard (1801–1803). David montrant aussi Napoleon traversant le Grand Saint-Bernard, mais il y a des différences significaives entre les deux conceptions du même sujet. là ou le Napoléon de David est idéalisé à la manière d'un héros antique, celui de Delaroche est représenté de manière réaliste et sans complaisance dans un style romantique qui était en vogue à l'époque^[1][6]. Il existe cinq versions de l'oeuvre, l'exemplaire daté de 1848 exposé au Louvre est considéré comme le premier original, une deuxième version daté à Nice 1850, appartient à la Walker Art Gallery de Liverpool et a longtemps été considérée à tort comme la première version. Trois autres répétitions de taille réduite sont accrochées à la bibliothèque Thiers de Paris, au Palais de Buckingham de Londres et dans une collection privée.

A l'instar de l'œuvre de David , la toile de Delaroche a été largement reproduite, la peinture fut critiqué par plusieurs spécialistes de la question sur le réalisme de la scène. Lors de sa réception à Londres les critiques anglais ont estimé que Delaroche avait échoué dans sa tentative de traduire le génie de Napoléon par des moyens réalistes^[1].

Sommaire 1 Description 2 Commande du tableau 3 Contrast to David's depiction 4 Analysis 4.1 Artistic style 5 Reception 6 Notes 7 Citations 8 References 9 Liens externes

[modifier] Description

La toile de grande dimension, (289 cm sur 222cm soit un peu plus grande que la version de david) représente Napoléon Bonaparte , alors premier consul, en train de traverser un col des Alpes. Il est vêtu d'un uniforme d'officier général recouvert par une redingotte grise , il porte une culotte de peau et des bottes à l'écuyère. Il est coiffé d'un bicorene de feutre noir galloné d'or. Il enfourche une mule, sa main droite est glissée sous son uniforme, sa main gauche est posée sur l'échine de l'animal. Celui ci est conduit par un guide, qui gravit le col en s'aidant d'une canne. A l'arrière plan à gauche on perçoit un officier maintenant de sa main son chapeau. Le décor est constitué de montagnes et de rochers enneigés.

[modifier] Commande du tableau

Selon un récit provenant de la famille d' Arthur George, troisième Earl of Onslow et propriétaire de la seconde version signé de 1850 accroché depuis à la Walker Art Gallery de Liverpool, l'origine de la commande fut motivée après que le comte et Paul Delaroche aient vu une version du tableau de David Bonaparte au Grand-Saint-Bernard au Louvre, et critiquant le caractère allégorique et irréaliste de la scène Georges Onslow aurait passé commande au peintre d'un tableau sur le même sujet, traité de manière réaliste^[7]. Cependant cette version des faits est mise en doute du fait qu' aucune version du portrait de David n'était accrochée au musée du Louvre depuis 1802, et que l'exemplaire de George Onslow est la deuxième version de l'oeuvre. Le tableau original du Louvre signé en 1848 était la propriété d'un autre collectionneur anglais John Naylor^[8].

A l'époque seulement deux versions autographes du tableau de David étaient en France, celle de Versailles accrochée au palais depuis 1837, et l'exemplaire appartenant à la famille du peintre, dans la collection privée de la baronne Jeanin fille de David (donné à Napoléon III en 1850, aujourd'hui à Versailles depuis 1979). Une copie par Georges Rouget était aussi visible à la bibliothèque des Invalides. Il se peut qu'il s'agisse de l'exemplaire appartenant à la fille de David qui était exposé au Bazar Bonne-Nouvelle en 1846 que Delaroche ait vu alors qu'il exposait lui aussi trois toiles, lors de cette même exposition^[9]. Selon Elisabeth Foucart-Walter, Delaroche aurait eu l'idée du tableau aprés avoir réalisé pour le Château de Versailles un Charlemagne traversant les Alpes ^[10] et s'inspira directement du récit de la scène dépeinte par Adolphe Thiers dans son Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire^[11]

[modifier] Contrast to David's depiction

The contrast between Jacques-Louis David's depiction of the same scene (of Napoleon traversing the Alps on his way to Italy), which was a flattering portrait that the king of Spain requested^[12][IV] for Napoleon^[13](as a gift) and Delaroche's depiction in Bonaparte Crossing the Alps is easily apparent. The first and most significant difference is in Napoleon, in his clothing, and in his general stature. David's version depicts Napoleon, dressed in an immaculate, multi-coloured uniform with a billowing cape. Delaroche's version, however, sees Napoleon in a fairly ordinary, gray coat with the sole purpose of keeping the cold away, rather than showing him as the symbol he may have represented - that of a gallant and powerful war leader, which is the impression given in David's version. However, there is another significant difference in Napoleon himself, in the way he holds himself. David's Napoleon is flamboyant,^[13] confident in his leadership of the French army, and in his ability to cross the Alps and defeat the Austrians in Italy. Delaroche's Napoleon is instead downcast, gaunt and embittered by the harsh cold. His eyes and expressionless face evidence his weariness, his tiredness a result of the long and unstable trek. The last properly significant difference in the two art works (excluding the actual setting, background, men seen in the distance etc.) is the difference in the animals that Napoleon rides on. In David's version, Napoleon rides a large, strong steed with a long mane, and this is one figment of David's version that is irrefutably untrue - Napoleon is known to have ridden a mule^[14][15] on his journey (which was borrowed from a local peasant),^[1] rather than a horse. This presence of a horse rather than a mule was one of the most major grounds for Delaroche's criticism of David's version, and is the basis of Delaroche's claim that Bonaparte Crossing the Alps, which includes a mule, is a more realistic portrayal of the scene.

[modifier] Analysis

[modifier] Artistic style

Along with the mass of white seen behind Napoleon, the amber sunlight glow, originating from the West of Napoleon's troupe, is the central source of lighting in the painting. It introduces contrast when coupled with shadow, and, by illumination, highlights key aspects of the scene; this is particularly seen by the light that falls across Bonaparte's pigeon chest.^[6] Napoleon and the mule he is saddled on are richly textured visually by the contrasting light and shade, as is the guide leading the mule. The ice and snow layers, also, are made whiter by the sunshine from the West, brightening the whole scene. However, the overhanging cliff on the left of Napoleon's guide and the legs of the mule both cast shadows to balance the lighting scheme of the painting.

The textural hues and schemes that Delaroche uses in this painting are quite detailed and well considered, especially in regards to the most important figures; such aspects of the work were described as being '...rendered with a fidelity that has not omitted the plait of a drapery, the shaggy texture of the four-footed animal, nor a detail of the harness on his back'.^[16] The mule, especially its fur, was intensely textured and detailed to make it look visually rough and bristly, and the mule itself weary and worn. The same techniques were applied to the red and yellow adornments draped and hung over the animal. The central detail of Napoleon is applied to his coat, in its ruffles and creases. Much detail and textural diversity is given to the guide too, most particularly to his face, his green, wind-caught tunic, and his leather boots.

Delaroche's attention to detail and literal precision in this painting evidences and demonstrates the slow but steady evolution of realism in art during the 19th century, and how its popularity began to rise.^[1]

[modifier] Reception

The work, despite its attempt to depict Napoleon realistically, was criticised by several authorities for a variety of reasons. A few disapproved of Delaroche's choice of painting, while others disapproved of Delaroche himself, saying, in some form, that he sought the genius of Napoleon, to no avail.^[16]

Soon after its completion, the work was taken to England, and there, in 1850, it was reviewed by the critic of the Atheneum,^[V] a literary magazine.^[17] The magazine's comments on the work indicated that, while they praised the painting for several of its features, they criticised Delaroche, for various reasons:

« An Officer in a French costume, mounted on a mule, is conducted by a rough peasant through a dangerous pass, whose traces are scarcely discernible through the deep-lying snow; and his aide-de-camp is just visible in a ravine of the towering Alps. These facts are rendered with a fidelity that has not omitted the plait of a drapery, the shaggy texture of the four-footed animal, nor a detail of the harness on his back. The drifting of the embedded snow, the pendent icicle which a solitary sun-ray in a transient moment has made-all are given with a truth which will be dear to those who exalt the Dutch School for like qualities into the foremost rank of excellence. But the lofty and daring genius that led the humble Lieutenant of Ajaccio to be ruler and arbiter of the destinies of the larger part of Europe will be sought in vain by M. Delaroche.^[16] »

Some were displeased with Delaroche's work at the time in general, and, in part, Bonaparte Crossing the Alps, criticising what was described as his 'lowered standards in art'. Such critics included The Gentleman's Magazine, who wrote the following text about Delaroche:

« These all reveal a modification in his style, but not a happy one. His more recent works are not calculated to restore him the sympathy he had lost. It must be confessed that Delaroche is an artist of talent rather than a genius. Education and diligent study qualified him to be a painter, but not an artist, in the true sense of that word. For he has failed in the true mission of the artist-that of advancing the education of the masses; when it was in his power to give an impulse, he yielded to it; he has been a reflection, but not a light; and instead of elevating the public to himself, he has lowered himself to the public.^[18] »

Whether Delaroche had lost the sympathy referred to by his imprisonment, or by his promotion to the position of First Painter, is not clear, but it seems as though The Gentleman's Magazine did not feel he was bringing anything novel into the artistic spectrum by his use of realism in the painting.

[modifier] Notes

[modifier] Citations

[modifier] References

Literature

• Alison, A. History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in MDCCLXXXIX to the Resoration of the Bourbons in MDCCCXV. W. Blackwood and sons, 1854.
• Britt, A.B. The Wars of Napoleon. Square One Publishers, Inc., 2003. ISBN 0757001548.
• Bunbury, H.E. Narratives of some passages in the great war with France, from 1799 to 1810. 1854.
• Chandler, D. G. Napoleon. Leo Cooper, 2002. ISBN 0-85052-750-3.
• Dodge, T.A. Napoleon: A History of the Art of War. Adamant Media Corporation, 2001. ISBN 1402195176
• Herold, J.C. The Age of Napoleon . Houghton Mifflin Books, 2002. ISBN 0618154612.
• Jefferies, F. The Gentleman's Magazine. Published 1856.
• Kelley, T.M. Reinventing Allegory. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 0521432073
• The American Whig Review, by the Making of America Project. Published first in 1845.
• Mason, D.S. Revolutionary Europe, 1789-1989: Liberty, Equality, Solidarity. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. ISBN 0742537692
• Murray, C.J. Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850. Taylor & Francis, 2004. ISBN 1579584225
• Quilley, G.; Bonehill, J. Conflicting Visions: War and Visual Culture in Britain and France, C. 1700-1830 Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005. ISBN 0754605752.
• Thiers, M.A. History of the Consulate and the Empire of France Under Napoleon. Kessinger Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1417956216.
• Tuckerman, H.T. Poems. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1851.
• Walther, I.F.; Suckale, R. Masterpieces of Western Art: A History of Art in 900 Individual Studies Taschen, 2002.

Other

• DELAROCHE, Paul - Bonaparte Crossing the Alps
• Bonaparte Crossing the Alps, 1848, Paul Delaroche (1797-1856)
• Bonaparte Crossing the Alps; Delaroche, Paul; 1848

[modifier] Liens externes

• Zoomable image of the artwork

Category:Paul Delaroche paintings Category:1848 paintings Category:French paintings Category:Paintings of people crossing geographical features

Catégorie:Œuvre conservée au Louvre