The Coronation of Napoleon

Jacques-Louis David's 'Coronation of Napoleon' (1805–1807), a colossal 6.2 × 9.8 m oil, records the moment on 2 December 1804 when Napoleon crowned himself emperor at Notre-Dame de Paris and then crowned his empress, Joséphine. Pope Pius VII and some 150 members of the Napoleonic court are portrayed with documentary likeness, and the picture stands as the supreme monument of David's Neoclassical fusion of politics and spectacle. A permanent highlight of the Louvre; a second autograph version hangs at Versailles.

Exhibition Venue

Louvre Museum

Paris, France