Labsky's Finest History: Me and One of Musée du Louvre's Finest Collections

On July 2010, I went to France with my dance team which is also my school friends. We went there to join a folklore festival in Romans. After 10 days of cheering and dancing in the festival, we went to Paris for a city tour. I was very excited to go there because the last time I went to Paris, I was only 2 years old so I didn’t remember anything. Anyway, In Paris, we visited some amazingly beautiful places such as The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Seine River and many more. But there was this one place that really amazed me, Louvre Museum. Louvre was very beautiful. I just love it’s gorgeous buildings and I think I would never forget my visit to Louvre.

Louvre at night

Louvre Museum or the Louvre is one of the world's largest museums. It is the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. The Louvre is a central landmark of Paris. It is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement. There are about 35.000 objects on display, spread out over three wings of the former palace. The museum has a diverse collection ranging from the antiquity up to the mid 19th century. A large part of the collection consists of European paintings and sculptures. Other rooms contain Roman, Egyptian, Greek and Oriental art. There is also a section with 'Objects d'Art', where objects such as clocks, furniture, china and tapestries are displayed. Some of the most famous works of art in the museum are the Venus of Milo, the Nike of Samothrake, the Dying Slave by Michelangelo and of course Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

Me with The Tiny-Little-but-Famous Mona Lisa

Originally built as a 12th century fortress, it was converted into a royal palace in the 14th century. It’s current appearance goes back to the 15th century, when the original fortress was demolished and the wing along the Seine river was built. The palace was extended during the 16th century by architect Pierre Lescot, who expanded the palace into a complex with two courtyards. A decade later Catharina de Medici added the Tuileries palace to the west of the Louvre. Construction on the Louvre was halted for some time when king Louis XIV decided to move to the Versailles Palace.

In the 19th century, during the Second Empire, the Louvre was expanded again with the addition of the Richelieu wing. The Louvre now had four symmetric wings surrounding a large courtyard. This would not last long, as the Communards burned the Tuileries palace in 1871, opening up the west side of the palace.

The collection of the Louvre Museum was first established in the 16th century by King Francis I. One of the works of art he purchased was the now famous Mona Lisa painting. The collection grew steadily thanks to donations and purchases by the kings. In 1793, during the French Revolution, the private royal collection opened to the public.

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The size of the collection increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon. After the defeat of Napoléon at Waterloo, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and gifts since the Third Republic. As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.

While I was walking inside The Louvre I saw a big painting that really interested me. And now, I would like to tell you the story about this one big painting in Louvre.

This is the man.

You all remember Napoleon Bonaparte, right? He was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars. He established hegemony over most of continental Europe and sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution, while consolidating an imperial monarchy which restored aspects of the deposed ancien régime. Due to his success in these wars, often against numerically superior enemies, he is generally regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time.

This painting that I was talking about is about him. It’s called The Coronation of Napoleon or Le Sacre de Napoléon in French.

The Coronation of Napoleon

This painting is very huge. This painting was completed in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon. Jacques-Louis David (30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo frivolity toward a classical austerity and severity, heightened feeling chiming with the moral climate of the final years of the Ancien Régime.

David later became an active supporter of the French Revolution and friend of Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794), and was effectively a dictator of the arts under the French Republic. Imprisoned after Robespierre's fall from power, he aligned himself with yet another political regime upon his release, that of Napoleon I. It was at this time that he developed his Empire style, notable for its use of warm Venetian colours. David had a huge number of pupils, making him the strongest influence in French art of the early 19th century, especially academic Salon painting. The painting has imposing dimensions, as it is almost ten metres wide by approximately six metres tall. The crowning and the coronation took place at Notre-Dame de Paris, a way for Napoleon to make it clear that he was a son of the Revolution.

Back to the topic, the painting was commissioned by Napoleon orally in September 1804 and its official title is Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804. Jacques-Louis David started work on 21 December 1805 in the former chapel of the College of Cluny, near the Sorbonne, which served as a workshop. Assisted by his student Georges Rouget, he put the finishing touches in November 1807. From 7 February to 21 March 1808, the work was exhibited at the Salon annual painting display in 1810, and it was presented to the decennial prize competition. The painting remained the property of David until 1819, when it was transferred to the Royal Museums, where it was stored in the reserves until 1837. Then, it was installed in the Chamber Sacre of the museum of the historical Palace of Versailles on the orders of King Louis-Philippe. In 1889, the painting was transferred to the Louvre from Versailles and replaced there with a full-size replica. This replica had been begun by David himself in 1808 and completed during his exile in Brussels.

There are lots of people in this painting. The characters are:

1. Napoleon I (1769–1821), is standing, dressed in coronation robes similar to those of Roman emperors. Others are merely passive spectators.

2. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763–1814), is kneeling in a submissive position, as called for in the French Civil Code. She received the crown from the hands of her husband, not the pope. Her robe is decorated with silk according to a contemporary cartoon by Jean-Francois Bony.

3. Maria Letizia Ramolino (1750–1836), mother of Napoleon, was placed in the stands by the painter. She occupies a place more important than the pope. Actually, she did not attend the ceremony to protest the friction of Napoleon with his brothers Lucien and Joseph. Napoleon's father, Charles Bonaparte, died in 1785. Maria Letizia asked the painter to give it a place of honor. In 1808, when Napoleon discovered the canvas completed in the workshop of David, he was transported, and said his gratitude to the painter who had managed to pay tribute to posterity to the affection he was carrying a woman who shared with him the burden of his office.

4. Louis Bonaparte (1778–1846), who at the beginning of the empire received the title of grand constable, King of Holland, in 1806. He married Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine.

5. Joseph Bonaparte (1768–1844), who was not invited and did not attend because of an argument with Napoleon. This is why his mother did not attend either. After the coronation, he received the title of imperial prince. Then he was king of Naples in 1806 and Spain in 1808.

6. The young Napoleon Charles Bonaparte (1802–1807), son of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnais.

7. The sisters of Napoleon. In the replica, the dress of Napolean's favorite sister will be pink. This is the only change in the replica despite being painted from memory.

8. Charles-Francois Lebrun (1739–1824), the third consul alongside Napoleon and Cambacérès. Under the First Empire, he took the place of prince-architrésorier. He holds the sceptre.

9. Turbaned Ottoman ambassador Halet Efendi in The Coronation of Napoleon.

10. Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès (1753–1824), arch-chancellor prince of the empire. He takes the hand of justice.

11. Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753–1815), minister of war under the Consulate. Marshal Empire in 1805. He keeps the globe surmounted by a cross.

12. Talleyrand (1754–1836), grand chamberlain since July 11, 1804.

13. Joachim Murat (1767–1815), marshal of empire, king of Naples after 1808, brother-in-law of Napoleon and husband of Caroline Bonaparte.

14. Pope Pius VII (1742–1823), was content to bless the coronation. He is surrounded by dignitaries clerics, appointed by Napoleon since the Concordat. In order not to jeopardize the new balance between Church and State, the pope accepted to attend the coronation.

15. The painter Jacques-Louis David is depicted in the stands as well.

16. Halet Efendi, an Ottoman ambassador, was also present.

I know this painting is not as famous as Davinci’s Monalisa, but there’s just something in this painting that really interest me. I spent about 10 minutes looking and admiring this painting. Luckily, it wasn’t very crowded in Louvre so I could to take some pictures.