StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Napoleonic paintings - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The essay discovers Napoleonic paintings. All the aspects by Napoleon was an attenpt to ensure public values, citizenship/patriotism, sacrifice as well as promoting his attainments as unequaled emperor. Unequaled emperor in this comprised of characteristics of romantic hero…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.9% of users find it useful
Napoleonic paintings
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Napoleonic paintings"

Napoleonic paintings Overview Compared to other periods where art mostly served as a tool to show case one’s expertise and aesthetic value, Napoleonic paintings included other personal purposes attached to the authority he had. During his era, he mostly utilized official propangada with the intention of controlling his sujects as well as the entire public’s perceptions. This was both in France and entire European region such that he could adequately instill in the hearts of those he led the might as well as validity of his empire. Hecne, resulting to propanganda and symbolism that characterized numerous artworks done by his artists like the one below while crossing St. Bernard Pass. Another symblism in depicting Napoleon’s might was the “Napoleon as Mars the peacemaker” that acted as a confusion and concealing the true identity of this celebrated leader (p. 234). Hence, changing his role from being a “god of war” to a person who had a soft side and believed in negotiations to making peace (p. 234). All these aspects by Napoleon was an attenpt to ensure public values, citizenship/patriotism, sacrifice as well as promoting his attainments as unequaled emperor. Unequaled emperor in this comprised of characteristics of romantic hero and a man who signified an extra ordinary prowess almost in all aspects. Figure 1: Napoleon Crossing the St Bernard Pass (1800) Genre The genre of this picture is history painting for it contains human figure besides representing the nature in its correct form. Moreover, the painting has a subject matter that is more significant to the viewer for instance; it reflects the history of the Napoleonic war era. Format Upright rectangular landscape elongated to feature other images of warring soldiers seen in the background. Besides the landscape is bear and has a climbing. The image is in dynamic energy, which is evident from the posture of the picture. Compositional elements Exaggerated moonlight achieved by the use of bright colours is evident intelligent use of brushwork to reveal the strong physiques of the horse, its rider, and propaganda words written on the ground. How the viewer ‘reads’ the picture Through the little, natural, soft and direct light besides lack of shadow, the viewer is able to guess the time of the day. The viewer recognizes different obstacles or objects in the picture using varied colours ranging from bright to dark. Symbolism and material detail of the image The picture symbolises the Napoleon war era in whereby Jacques-Louis David uses the horse to cross to the war zone. The painting was done by Jacques-Louis David showing Bonaparte crossing the Alps waters in between 1800 and 1801 besides, which is an oil canvas done on a sheet measuring 260 by 221cm. Genre The picture depicts a portrait painting in that the artist made the whole image to be the main or specific point of concern. It shows the full body of Bonaparte resulting to being a portrait painting. Format The artist uses an upright rectangular background that is enough to accommodate some objects. The image stands upright as well and in a relaxed mode for there is no movement noted. Compositional elements The light is much concentrated on the central part of the picture where Antoine-Jean Gros is placing his hand. The artist uses light contrast at the bottom part of the image that is dull bright colours for the man to reveal his muscular physique. How the viewer ‘reads’ the picture The viewer reads the picture by observing the main object that covers most part of the space. The light seems to be little and soft from an artificial source besides which it highlights the central part of the photograph. The artist uses varied colours in the attire as well as shoes to show the political status of Antoine-Jean Gros in his community. Symbolism and material detail of the image This picture symbolises the royalty as well as superiority feeling of the Antoine-Jean Gros, Bonaparte as First Consul. The artwork presentation is an oil painting done on a piece of paper with dimensions of 205 by 127 Cm. Genre This picture is in portrait art category of genre because the main or dominant focus of attention is the face of the Napoleon in his Imperial Robes. Format The image has upright and rectangular scenery a little bit stretched out at the back in order to show other valuable objects at the background. Compositional elements Light is both from the back and the central region where the watcher views the image. The purpose of this image is to direct the viewer’s eyes to the central image. How the viewer ‘reads’ the picture The light is well distributed at the background and from the front of the image making the shadow to be formed or to appear at the backside. The light is from an artificial source hence the viewer cannot be able to guess the time of the day. As well, there seems to be staircases shown by the use of straight lines indicating that Napoleon is standing on a high or raised floor. Symbolism and material detail of the image This symbolises the proudness of the Napoleon in his Robes. This is a painting of Napoleon in his Robes done by Francois Gerard in 1805 using oil painting on a painting sheet measuring 227 by 145 cm. Genre This picture is of genre painting for it portrays ordinary people in their own activities. The picture shows a normal and daily way of life evident from the behaviour as well as the relaxed interaction mode of the images. Format The picture has horizontal rectangular scenery made long enough to show numerous people besides buildings in the background. Compositional elements Light is mostly used to highlight the key areas in the picture for instance on the side of the image where there are many people as well as on the opposite side where Bonaparte stands. There is good brushwork use in describing the subject matter of the image. How the viewer ‘reads’ the picture The light forms some shadows that it does not allow the viewer to guess the time of the day. The light is direct, soft and from an artificial source. The colours used depict half-naked people, which could be because of the plaque that had stricken them. Symbolism and material detail of the image The picture signifies unhappiness of the featured people evident from their different relaxing modes. This is an oil canvas by Antoine-Jean Gros featuring Bonaparte while visiting the plague stricken people of Jaffa in 1804 done on 32.1 by 720 cm sheet. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Napoleonic paintings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1644096-napoleonic-paintings
(Napoleonic Paintings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1644096-napoleonic-paintings.
“Napoleonic Paintings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1644096-napoleonic-paintings.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Napoleonic paintings

Goya and Colossus - The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid

As a tapestry designer, Goya did his first genre paintings, or scenes from everyday life.... He expressed his horror of armed conflict in many of his paintings, along with starkly realistic etchings on the atrocities of war.... We can tell from other famous paintings of his that he has very strong feelings about the war with the French and the Spanish.... During the napoleonic invasion and the Spanish war of independence from 1808 to 1814, Goya served as court painter to the French....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Third of May 1808: Goya Records History

hellip; A pair of paintings, one of a clothed woman and one of the same woman nude, were in the possession of the Inquisition.... The massacre was a violent act that must have left a strong impression on the artist as there are two paintings in existence about the events, one for the fight on May 2nd and the other depicting the events of May 3rd....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon vs Ingres, Grand Odilesque

The paper will describes that paintings and compare them.... Two paintings which are anachronisms of the times of their periods.... Two paintings: Innovation of Two art periods Two paintings which are anachronisms of the times of their periods....
1 Pages (250 words) Assignment

The Birth of Venus

The restoration of some of the paintings was not a possibility.... This according to some historians was a direct attempt at the continuation of the paintings in a significant way.... It has the depiction of goddess Venus, arriving from the sea as a fully grown woman....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Francisco de Goyas The Third of May 1808

Originally, Goya's Third of May painting was borne out of the Spaniard's social unrest when a French soldier was shot dead in Madrid on May 2, 1808 (A painting entitled Dos de Mayo Uprising preceded the Third of May painting where the citizens of Spain revolted) during the napoleonic occupation.... napoleonic troops then retaliated by rounding up a large number of innocent peasants on the Third of May who were accused to part of the uprising....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Eyck, Jan van The Arnolfini Portrait 1434

Aesthetic response, formal and historical theories, as discussed in Preble's Artforms will be applied in this artwork.... Aesthetic or functional theories of art are in many ways the most perceptive theories of art.... hellip; t its base, the word ‘aesthetic' is used to denote to a category of phenomenal occurrence and aesthetic explanations recognize artworks with artifacts projected to produce aesthetic experiences....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Was the Mona Lisa Stolen

From the paper "Was the Mona Lisa Stolen' it is clear that the plan was never to destroy the painting however it was more towards returning it to Italy.... The painting received much acclamation from the public and presses alike once it was returned and displayed back at The Lourve.... hellip; The initial quote from Leonardo was for half a million dollars, and he explained that the painting was stolen on special orders to restore what had been stolen from Italy by the Napoleons....
5 Pages (1250 words) Assignment

Global Visual and Material Culture

This paper ''Global Visual and Material Culture'' tells that Claude Monet's 'Vetheuilin Summer' is one of a series of 1880s paintings whereby the same scene is captured many times to record the changing of light and the passing of seasons.... hellip; To achieve this, the painter used bright colors and juxtaposition, shunned academic or orthodox painting norms and scientific precision, recorded the passage of time through light, mist, and rain effects on a subject's landscape paintings....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us