![]() ![]() The ruler’s hair is rumpled, stockings bagging slightly around his ankles. He grasps a golden snuff box-whose contents would have helped him stay awake. Careful details-the clock at 4:13, the lamp’s nearly spent candle, early morning light seeping into the chamber at the left-indicate that the emperor is burning the midnight oil. ![]() Napoleon took up residence in the Tuileries Palace in Paris after appointing himself emperor in 1804, the year in which this picture is set. The lush fabrics, textures, clear colors, and enamel-like surfaces of the painting create an effect that is convincing and vivid. While the posed attitude and the picture’s full-length format convey formality, the portrait’s time and place-inside the emperor’s private study, in the wee hours of the morning-convey an intimate view of this very public figure. Jacques-Louis David seems not to have completely heeded his patron’s request: Napoleon, who rose to become emperor in the political vacuum following the French Revolution, is captured in statesmanlike quietude rather than a more glorious episode in his storied career. ![]()
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