Washington and Napoleon: A Study in Power through Images

1) What do you think is the overall argument and purpose of each pair? What is the relationship between the two images?

2) Find at least 1 specific element from each picture that supports your thesis

3) How does your image of Washington present a “symbol” for the new nation?

Washington and Napoleon

A Study in Power through Images

George Washington Charles Willson Peale, 1779-1781

Napoleon in His Study Jacques-Louis David, 1810

As Leader

George Washington in uniform, as colonel of the First Virginia Regiment

Charles Willson Peale(1772)

Bonaparte at the Bridge of the Arcole, by Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, (ca.

1801),

First Images

George Washington Before the Battle of Trenton,

John Trumbull, 1792

Napoleon Crossing the Alps Jacques-Louis David,1800

As General

Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres 1806

George Washington (Lansdowne portrait). Gilbert Stuart 1796

As Lawgiver

François Frédéric LemotNapoleon in Triumph, 1808

George Washington Horatio Greenough, 1833-36

As “Neoclassical”

symbol

The Coronation of Napoleon Jacques-Louis David, 1807

(Napoleon is placing the Charlemagne Crown on his kneeling

wife Josephine)

The Washington Family Edward Savage, 1789-1790

With Family

“George Washington” Richmond Capitol Jean-Antoine Houdon

1785/1791

Napoleon in Exile Mercie, 1880

As Citizen

George Washington's Apotheosis John James Barralet 1800

The Apotheosis of Napoleon IJean Auguste Dominique Ingres 1853

In Death