Napoleon employed a local teenage boy to serve as a guide during the crossing of the Alps. The boy later recounted how on many occasions Napoleon and the soldiers had to slide down icy trails on their butts. That image would have made for a most heroic painting.
That’s a legit mountaineering practice. I’ve butt glissaded countless times but you have to be careful not to snag your crampons and keep your ice axe handy to slow yourself down or stop if necessary. More than a few climbers have lost control and slid off cliffs or slammed into boulder fields.
God, I love this channel and the style of presentation. But I must say, I miss the older more detailed video essays which would be way over 10 mins. But maybe, this portrait of Napoleon only deserves this length, average for our time ha :D
Yes, you sure can get lost in her voice and the information that comes with it. I think it is just because Napoleon has already been talked about so much. ❤
@@WVgrl59 it's not about the people who subscribed or watched, it's about the length of a video that RUclips will promote and monetize because of XYZ criteria. It might be that if this creator makes long form videos, that they won't be promoted and monetized as much because of no new, unsubscribed views.
A lot of people were smitten with Napoleon. Beethoven wrote "Eroica" for him, but left out the last part of it because he had grown disillusioned with Napoleon. Sometimes it is hard for us to put away those who gained our loyalty, even if they turn out not to deserve it. In any case, I love all of David's paintings. They are stunningly beautiful.
War horses were exorbitantly expensive. Even now, maintaining horses is an expensive undertaking. Why exhaust your horse when mules are far more hardy and more suitable for traversing snowy mountain terrain? It makes infinitely more sense to me that he rode a mule up the alps. I adore this channel. Thank youuuu
In WWI a famous Scottish American dog sledder brought sled dogs from Alaska to Europe to serve bringing supplies into the Alps. They were found to be far superior for the task than the ponies they had been using.
@@t.a.7970 i'm never against making fun of historical figures with inflated egos, but common, the man was a general, he knew how to manage his resources. Making a bad decision like wasting a ton of money by straining a good war horse with a task it isn't prepared for is a much bigger blow to the ego than riding a mule instead.
At a thrift shop, I found some unknown art student's attempt at David's "The Death of Marat" for $3.03. It was done in acrylics, and despite its clumsy chiaroscuro and a few amateurish notes, it's pleasing to me. I hung it in my bathroom wall above the showerhead so I can laze in a bubble bath with my boobs floating and contemplate it.
Yes, it was part of his propaganda campaign! I am a history professor and just saw the movie. I made a review on it as well if people want to know what was historically accurate in it and what was fiction.
Are historians more accurate than David? I bet you will talk about the Russian winter, where he lost most of his army in the summer and left Russia by the autumn.
@@2adamasterr, YES, historians, who study that shit all their life and do their best to correct any error in our perception of history, ARE WAY MORE ACCURATE THAN A PAINTER WHO MADE A PIECE OF PROPAGANDA. You can't be serious🤦♂️
Napoleon wasn't exactly tall, but the Brit propaganda weaponized his size because in pre-metric France, the inch was longer than the imperial inch (2.7cm vs 2.54). So his size was 5 ft 2 in in French customary units, roughly 1.67 metre. But of course, omitting the precision, it sounded ridiculously short for a common man accustomed to the imperial system.
Horsemen keep their heels DOWN at all times. Napoleon's heels in the stirrups are up, which, if your foot slipped, your foot would get caught in the stirrup and is extremely dangerous. David, get it right!
You are SO wrong. If you are in the USA, an ultra wealthy CEO, or whatever job title it is you hate these days, will pay more in taxes yearly than you will make it ten years. It takes THOUSANDS of normal citizens taxes to equal that of a single person in the “1%”.
@@Peter-ff1tp Yes, that's right, thousands of normal citizens to make one of the 1%. But there are very few of the 1%, and they have so much cash tied up and not out being used to purchase anything, meaning the money isn't working to make others rich. Money is like manure, in order for it to work, you have to spread it around! If you don't spread it around, but hide it in a vault in a bank, money stops working for everyone. And due to more and more of the wealth is being buried in tombs of bank vaults by the 1%, there is less money for the super CEOs and regular workers to work for. But the 1% are the ones that have tax lawyers doing everything to make it so they don't pay hardly any taxes. The 1% are not working people, they are the ones who are buying up everything to make more tax shelters so the money they have does not get taxed. Super CEO's and the rest of us, are the ones paying taxes. We are the 99%, and we are the finite well of cash the 1% draw their obscene wealth from, leaving even less for us to work for.
I've always wondered why it seemed something is amiss in this painting. Napoleon just looks way to young in it, considering the age he was at the time of his trek through the Alps. Well, now I know. 😂 Thank you for the time and effort you put into your videos. Your study and research of all of these paintings is excellent and I really enjoy them.
he was 30 when he crossed the alps, i dont really think he looks too young in the painting (hotwashed? sure, but not agewashed). Napoleon did pose for Bonaparte au Pont d’Arcole only 4 years earlier and he looks almost the same.
Maybe David was both a revolutionary and a survivalist. We don't know what sort of pressures he was under to do his job. No doubt he wanted to keep his family fed and alive -which means going with the flow of the current government for someone rubbing shoulders in those sorts of circles. Maybe he gave himsekf a copy of the painting because he liked it. Maybe it was an overt display of loyalty to undermine any suspicions. Who knows. Those details from other works are exquisite tho!❤
His age is portraited right though. He was 27 years old when he got command of the army of Italy and the battle of Marengo was at the end of the Italian campaign, which wouldve made him at MOST 31 or 30
I confess I damaged a high school history book by tearing out the page that contained this portrait (I thought it was a gorgeous painting, accurate or not). Thanks very much for the history and context. As always, I appreciate your presentation a great deal. Thank you.
You were right - it is a sumptuously gorgeous painting. The fact that it is propaganda doesn't change that. Almost all portraits of the powerful were extremely flattering. David was just following routine. Cromwell is still famous for telling the portrait artist to include his warts.
I'd prefer if there were less effects, visual and auditory personally. The explosions and gasps make me wanna watch something else but I like learning about this subject matter.
Wow, a society where the majority are crushed by oppressive work conditions and poverty and the richest minority pay little to no taxes? That sounds like a horrible system that should never be replicated!
The "commanding a fiery steed" part of this painting is also a lie. Napoleon's horse, Marengo, was specially chosen for him due to Marengo's small stature and quiet, sweet temperament. Marengo was the sort of horse you would entrust to a child--easy to get on, easy to ride. And this was necessary because Napoleon was, apparently, a terrible horseman who rode like a sack of potatoes.
Regarding his poor riding form- The positioning of the foot may be to get that youthful, vibrant, sexy calf look & bc of the horse rearing up. (Sort of holding on w his feet.) To me, it looks impossibly balanced. One hand isn't holding at all, the reins are slack in the other. How strong is that wind? If not for it, would he be thrown & bouncing down the cliff behind him?
The one thing that irritates me about this painting is the way Napoleon sits on that horse. It looks abnormal and makes him look like an inexperienced rider.
His foot in the stirrup is particularly irritating, since his heels should be DOWN not up, especially going up hill. But, perhaps he wasn't a super experienced horseman? If he came from more humble surroundings, he may not have had many riding horses in his life, and if he really crossed the Alps on a mule/donkey, and was led at that, well doesn't speak much for his horsemanship. Just a thought.
Um... Maybe it's because the ARTIST wasn't an experienced horseman??? As our narrator points out, Napoleon did not sit for the portrait. And I think, holding a pose, the horse would have been exhausted! [The real reason for its alarmed expression...]
His legs seem too long in relation to the horse. No allowance ghas been made for the legs to go around the horse. If you straighten his legs as if he were riding on the flat, they come to about a foot below the horses belly. Was his charger a small pony? A historian recently pointed out he actually rode a mule over the Alps .
The artist of painting.. had to make it with his son holding onto a stair! Probably he was being rushed to have it ready quickly, and he most surely didn't knew much about horses or riding in the slightest.
@@be6715 then no. Napoleon was a very, very good horseman, just that the person who did this painting is a painter and not a horseman. Then it makes sense to use a mule to cross the Alps rather than a horse which is much less robust. find out next time.
France in the 18 th century sounds a lot like America and pretty much like many other countries as well. **SIGH** Like King Solomon said “there is nothing new under the sun.”
I smiled when I saw your thumbnail - it's been a long time! I saved it so I could watch it just before bed thank you so much! I must tell you the first painting I saw of Napoleon was in the Louvre and it was Napoleon's wedding to Josephine. It was extraordinary. I fell in love with that piece and admired the talent
There is a recipe for Chicken Marengo in The Joy of Cooking. It says that Napoleon's chef made it from "ingredients his soldiers scrounged up from the surrounding areas." [paraphrased] What they meant was that the French army was infamous for marauding over the countryside and robbing the peasants, because the French government expected them to feed themselves "off the country" where they passed through (including the French peasants in their own country) and didn't have a quartermaster corps. So the ingredients for Chicken Marengo are the things that the Italian peasants would ordinarily have: tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and chickens. I'm sure the French brought their own brandy and wine.
Tasting History with Max Miller just made a video for Chicken Marengo stating that story was probably a myth since the chef mentioned didn't work for Napoleon at that time. Plus later versions used tomatoes though they weren't grown in northern Italy. ruclips.net/video/O1flfls4N78/видео.html
I've only seen one version, the one in the Belvedere, but the thing is amazing. I spent a good hour with it over the course of multiple visits. The room is often all but empty, as the crowds are busy fighting to see that damned over-rated Klimt painting, "Der Küss."
Napoleon WAS relatively young when he crossed the Alps though, he was only 28 or 29 I believe, so he would have looked something like that at that time, just with long hair perhaps.
I'm a new subscriber but God, i'm already addicted, your sense of humor is like the icing on the cake, your edits are amazing too... I'm happy i stumble on your channel ❤
I think the way he holds his arm and hand also suggests the pose of the adlocutio that Roman emperors (take the sculpture of Augustus of Primaporta as an example) would do when speaking to their armies. Kind of makes this all the more ironic, considering that it's supposed to be a gesture by a great leader who is inspiring his troops while Napoleon came 2 days later after his army lol
... Initially, I heard the painting referred to as 'hot gouache' instead of hogwash... and my immediate thought was to protest that it was done in oils. Admittedly, still hot, though.
It's propaganda piece. So was, "The Death of Marat". A painting about a brutal tyrant responsible for the execution of thousands (sound familiar?), including David's previous patron, and subject of another great David painting, the great scientist, Lavoisier. David himslef was sentenced to be guillotined bur survived by sheer luck. Both paintings are considered masterpeices because of the wildly different emotions that they convey. David also painted the "Death of Socrates" and "Mars and Venus". Now, those were really inaccurate.
After all of your comments on the painting, I was wondering how you could have missed those boots and not have said anything about them.....but then you waited until the very last sentence. I should have known better. You don't miss a thing. Awesome.
Dude was not a sellout, he was loyal to his cause to the end. Yes, he painted a lie, but to make propaganda for his own beliefs. I feel sorry for him for this reputation
Napoleon made one of my ancestors a Marshall of France. He had the titles of; 1st Marquis d'Éguilly, Duc de Magenta and later became the President of the French Republic 1873-1879) Not bad for an Irishman. Sadly I have no title, nor money, and live in Australia. There is an even better version of this Painting, where Bonaparte has a wry smirk on his face. Much more fun than the ones on show here.
Yep pure propaganda piece....beautifully rendered and just too good to be true. Sidenote: If Napoleon really ever did spur that horse right there, he would've been bucked off, probably pretty badly. Also though mules are much less sexy than horses, they are much more sensible and a billion times more sure footed. Fantastic content as always, I look forward to each vid!
Impeccable timing! Just saw the movie yesterday and this is a perfect follow up! Thank you, very helpful and you convey knowledge with such Grace and humor! 👏🏼
"Imagine a world where the king. queen, and super rich pay nothing in taxes and throw lavish parties every night..." (3:30), OK, what a second, I'm trying, Oh, yea like America?
I generally don't expect artistic interpretations of real people to actually be 100% accurate. We're no different in modern day, any Biography movie that's made of a famous person is bound to be full of rampant lies and propaganda.
I don't know if painting Napoleon "with warts and all" would work ... for the artist, if he wanted to get free, alive and well. In Brazil an artist called Pedro Américo painted the Duke of Caxias in The Battle of Avaí with the Dolmen opened and away from the real battle to offend him...well...it didn't made wonders for his career. The Duke of Caxias in response even accused him of plagiarism because of his horse in the picture that the Duke said it was copied from the painting Napoleon in Arcole. About Napoleon lets remember he fled from Egypt (that were butchered after simplifying a long and complex and nuanced story) as he saw new opportunities in France to raise in ranks and power, and it worked. I didn't know that The Intervention of the Sabine Women, The Death of Socrates, and The Death of Marat were from the same painter that painted this portrait of Napoleon.
Hi! I really enjoy your videos, your style of delivery is like having a friend talk art with me (and it reminds of how in high school my friends and I would explain History and Literature with tons of pop culture reference and slang). However, I would like if you could share your sources, as I'm sure you do a ton of research for every video and would love to be able to dive deeper into some of these topics. I really appreciate your work and will often put on your videos to relax after a day's work.
I saw this painting in the Louvre. I thought it was a great painting. I also thought it was great propaganda, and was obviously not meant to be seen as "this is him captured on campaign". as though Napoleon reared his horse so that David, who wasn't there, could mentally capture the instant, because Napoleon, being so great, knew it was a pivotal moment.
What a lot of people forget so intense was just how young Napoleon was at the start of his rise to fame. At 24 following the Battle of Toulon and he became a major, then at 26 he was a general, First Consul at 28 and the Emperor at 30. Too short for a general indeed, haha.
I'm still waiting 4 the fall of icarus, garden of earthly delights, the nightmare, aurora Triumphans, ivan the terrible and his son and death of marat ii
You're rich and honey- It wasn't propaganda it was pretty on point-It might have been nice weather but it was still Alps weather- That means layers of clothing and boots- And yes, ready for snow cause it does snow In May Sometimes- and sometimes it's blowin to beat the band and rainin cats and dogs- and remember there's always snow above 2000 ft- yes Everybody rode donkeys over the passes- The horses were lead- So yeah he had a horse. So It did snow and rain in the Alps. So He was only a baby faced 31. Not too far fetched at all.
Actually - to be "historically accurate" - Bonaparte wasn't short. Also, there's this thing called "metaphore." It can be used in art (especially the propagandistic type) as well as literature. Nobody thought Napolean rode his horse on the edge of a cliff.
Thank you for your very entertaining and enlightening videos. That picture was one of the first jigsaw puzzles I ever did long long ago. I bought it because I just thought it was a great painting. J.L. David was a great master. funny - just before the end of your vid, I admired his boots too. (Great minds, I guess.)
November 21 saw the auction of one of Napoleon’s hats for $2.1 million. The state of Louisiana is the only state in the country which still adheres to the Napoleonic Code (of law).
6:10 - Suvorov, who undoubtedly was the most brilliant military commander of the era, also crossed the Alps just one year before Napoleon. In harsh weather. But he did that after delivering some buttkicking to the French, so of course Napoleon would rather not include him.
This painting style inspired in a Charles V a horse in a Muhberlg battle by TItian in Prado Museum in fact de armor of Charles V is preserved in Royal Armory of Royal Palace of Madrid.
Did Goya do a couple Bonapart paintings? I thought Goya had become part of Napoleon painting team. I thought he went from Charles (?)to Bonaparte back to Charles(?).? I’m very new to the art world. I guess it makes sense that the hierarchy would have more than one Painter for themselves.
“A new government must dazzle and astonish.” The most French version of “shock and awe” I have ever heard. Also of note: Did JLD really paint Napoleon’s horse’s hooves as gilded? How Donald Trump.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Napoleon employed a local teenage boy to serve as a guide during the crossing of the Alps. The boy later recounted how on many occasions Napoleon and the soldiers had to slide down icy trails on their butts. That image would have made for a most heroic painting.
That’s a legit mountaineering practice. I’ve butt glissaded countless times but you have to be careful not to snag your crampons and keep your ice axe handy to slow yourself down or stop if necessary. More than a few climbers have lost control and slid off cliffs or slammed into boulder fields.
God, I love this channel and the style of presentation. But I must say, I miss the older more detailed video essays which would be way over 10 mins. But maybe, this portrait of Napoleon only deserves this length, average for our time ha :D
Blame the RUclips algorithm.
Still a great portrait
Yes, you sure can get lost in her voice and the information that comes with it. I think it is just because Napoleon has already been talked about so much. ❤
@CZRWK, we chose to watch Art Deco.
In this case,the algorithm did not choose us... but that's funny. 😂😂😂
@@WVgrl59 it's not about the people who subscribed or watched, it's about the length of a video that RUclips will promote and monetize because of XYZ criteria. It might be that if this creator makes long form videos, that they won't be promoted and monetized as much because of no new, unsubscribed views.
A lot of people were smitten with Napoleon. Beethoven wrote "Eroica" for him, but left out the last part of it because he had grown disillusioned with Napoleon. Sometimes it is hard for us to put away those who gained our loyalty, even if they turn out not to deserve it. In any case, I love all of David's paintings. They are stunningly beautiful.
It also didn't help that Austria, Beethoven's homeland, was invaded twice by Napoleon and beaten in battle so often.
War horses were exorbitantly expensive. Even now, maintaining horses is an expensive undertaking. Why exhaust your horse when mules are far more hardy and more suitable for traversing snowy mountain terrain? It makes infinitely more sense to me that he rode a mule up the alps.
I adore this channel. Thank youuuu
I thought you were going to say: " why waste money on a horse when you can use a ladder?"
Mules are better in mountain, they just cost as much
In WWI a famous Scottish American dog sledder brought sled dogs from Alaska to Europe to serve bringing supplies into the Alps. They were found to be far superior for the task than the ponies they had been using.
@@t.a.7970 i'm never against making fun of historical figures with inflated egos, but common, the man was a general, he knew how to manage his resources. Making a bad decision like wasting a ton of money by straining a good war horse with a task it isn't prepared for is a much bigger blow to the ego than riding a mule instead.
There were other reasons for the mule, so don’t laugh til you learn more
At a thrift shop, I found some unknown art student's attempt at David's "The Death of Marat" for $3.03. It was done in acrylics, and despite its clumsy chiaroscuro and a few amateurish notes, it's pleasing to me. I hung it in my bathroom wall above the showerhead so I can laze in a bubble bath with my boobs floating and contemplate it.
😆😁😅
@@pliktl Hehheh, you got me. But practice makes perfect!
As a gay man I am truly gobsmacked that boobs float. 🤷♂️
@@charleshamilton9274 Hot spring episodes in anime taught me that pretty early on
@@charleshamilton9274 Ah, curious... I was under the impression that the buoyancy factor also applied to the ol' "meat and two veg."
Yes, it was part of his propaganda campaign! I am a history professor and just saw the movie. I made a review on it as well if people want to know what was historically accurate in it and what was fiction.
Hum, I think I see the movie, then check out your content. :)
Thank you! @@be6715
Are historians more accurate than David? I bet you will talk about the Russian winter, where he lost most of his army in the summer and left Russia by the autumn.
The movie was shit.
@@2adamasterr, YES, historians, who study that shit all their life and do their best to correct any error in our perception of history, ARE WAY MORE ACCURATE THAN A PAINTER WHO MADE A PIECE OF PROPAGANDA.
You can't be serious🤦♂️
Napoleon wasn't exactly tall, but the Brit propaganda weaponized his size because in pre-metric France, the inch was longer than the imperial inch (2.7cm vs 2.54). So his size was 5 ft 2 in in French customary units, roughly 1.67 metre. But of course, omitting the precision, it sounded ridiculously short for a common man accustomed to the imperial system.
Horsemen keep their heels DOWN at all times. Napoleon's heels in the stirrups are up, which, if your foot slipped, your foot would get caught in the stirrup and is extremely dangerous.
David, get it right!
Oh yeah, I can hear my horse riding instructor yelling, "Heels down! Shoulders straight! And for fucks sake look in the direction you are riding!"
@@sarielle85 Yep!
Because David and his public never saw a horse?
Imagine a world where the super rich pay nothing in taxes… You mean the world we currently live in?
And they always have a gestapo to protect them...
You are SO wrong. If you are in the USA, an ultra wealthy CEO, or whatever job title it is you hate these days, will pay more in taxes yearly than you will make it ten years.
It takes THOUSANDS of normal citizens taxes to equal that of a single person in the “1%”.
@@Peter-ff1tp Yes, that's right, thousands of normal citizens to make one of the 1%.
But there are very few of the 1%, and they have so much cash tied up and not out being used to purchase anything, meaning the money isn't working to make others rich.
Money is like manure, in order for it to work, you have to spread it around! If you don't spread it around, but hide it in a vault in a bank, money stops working for everyone.
And due to more and more of the wealth is being buried in tombs of bank vaults by the 1%, there is less money for the super CEOs and regular workers to work for.
But the 1% are the ones that have tax lawyers doing everything to make it so they don't pay hardly any taxes. The 1% are not working people, they are the ones who are buying up everything to make more tax shelters so the money they have does not get taxed.
Super CEO's and the rest of us, are the ones paying taxes. We are the 99%, and we are the finite well of cash the 1% draw their obscene wealth from, leaving even less for us to work for.
@@Peter-ff1tp sure jan
I was going to say it sounded rather familiar!😊
I've always wondered why it seemed something is amiss in this painting. Napoleon just looks way to young in it, considering the age he was at the time of his trek through the Alps. Well, now I know. 😂 Thank you for the time and effort you put into your videos. Your study and research of all of these paintings is excellent and I really enjoy them.
It’s no “muscular Trump riding a bald eagle, waving a rifle”.
he was 30 when he crossed the alps, i dont really think he looks too young in the painting (hotwashed? sure, but not agewashed). Napoleon did pose for Bonaparte au Pont d’Arcole only 4 years earlier and he looks almost the same.
Maybe David was both a revolutionary and a survivalist. We don't know what sort of pressures he was under to do his job. No doubt he wanted to keep his family fed and alive -which means going with the flow of the current government for someone rubbing shoulders in those sorts of circles. Maybe he gave himsekf a copy of the painting because he liked it. Maybe it was an overt display of loyalty to undermine any suspicions. Who knows. Those details from other works are exquisite tho!❤
His age is portraited right though. He was 27 years old when he got command of the army of Italy and the battle of Marengo was at the end of the Italian campaign, which wouldve made him at MOST 31 or 30
That makes sense then to have his son pose for it.
I confess I damaged a high school history book by tearing out the page that contained this portrait (I thought it was a gorgeous painting, accurate or not). Thanks very much for the history and context. As always, I appreciate your presentation a great deal. Thank you.
You were right - it is a sumptuously gorgeous painting. The fact that it is propaganda doesn't change that. Almost all portraits of the powerful were extremely flattering. David was just following routine. Cromwell is still famous for telling the portrait artist to include his warts.
Your videos are always so enjoyable!
Art Deco is a bright spot on You Tube and your editing skills are top notch.
Thank you so much!
I absolutely agree! Didya catch the"cool as a cucumber" Perfection!!!!
I don’t know, there’s something about the editing and the way she speaks that gives me negative ASMR
@@antoniocasias5545 How nice for you.
I'd prefer if there were less effects, visual and auditory personally. The explosions and gasps make me wanna watch something else but I like learning about this subject matter.
"A little short for a general though"! That made me laugh.
Thanks for another entertaining video.
You do not disappoint. 🙂
Haha! Thanks, Dave. You’re the best!
Hahaha
Wow, a society where the majority are crushed by oppressive work conditions and poverty and the richest minority pay little to no taxes? That sounds like a horrible system that should never be replicated!
"I don't give a frantic feline" has become my new to-go phrase
Great video as always! Can you do a video on Artemisia Gentileschi? A brilliant lady with beautiful artwork.
Oh, yes, please!
I would love that!
Always a joy to listen to your videos and always informative and with good clean humor!
So glad to see this here. I have been missing your videos for weeks or even months.
Thanks for mentioning that - contrary to popular misunderstanding - Napoleon was average height for his time.
We appreciate your insights. You'll always have our support no matter what.
Thank you!!
If I had the opportunity, she has taught me the regret of *not* exploring art history !
Are you suggesting she should lead us through the Alps once more?
The "commanding a fiery steed" part of this painting is also a lie. Napoleon's horse, Marengo, was specially chosen for him due to Marengo's small stature and quiet, sweet temperament. Marengo was the sort of horse you would entrust to a child--easy to get on, easy to ride. And this was necessary because Napoleon was, apparently, a terrible horseman who rode like a sack of potatoes.
Glad to see an upload on this channel!
Glad you enjoy it!
Thank you for pointing out so much background detail that I'd never taken any notice of before.
Anyone else have a crush on the portrait when you where little
This one and the other darker one of him at the bridge, that ones not as bombastic, but its my favorite. 4:43
Still do
Regarding his poor riding form- The positioning of the foot may be to get that youthful, vibrant, sexy calf look & bc of the horse rearing up. (Sort of holding on w his feet.)
To me, it looks impossibly balanced. One hand isn't holding at all, the reins are slack in the other. How strong is that wind? If not for it, would he be thrown & bouncing down the cliff behind him?
The one thing that irritates me about this painting is the way Napoleon sits on that horse. It looks abnormal and makes him look like an inexperienced rider.
His foot in the stirrup is particularly irritating, since his heels should be DOWN not up, especially going up hill. But, perhaps he wasn't a super experienced horseman? If he came from more humble surroundings, he may not have had many riding horses in his life, and if he really crossed the Alps on a mule/donkey, and was led at that, well doesn't speak much for his horsemanship. Just a thought.
Um... Maybe it's because the ARTIST wasn't an experienced horseman??? As our narrator points out, Napoleon did not sit for the portrait. And I think, holding a pose, the horse would have been exhausted! [The real reason for its alarmed expression...]
His legs seem too long in relation to the horse. No allowance ghas been made for the legs to go around the horse. If you straighten his legs as if he were riding on the flat, they come to about a foot below the horses belly. Was his charger a small pony?
A historian recently pointed out he actually rode a mule over the Alps .
The artist of painting.. had to make it with his son holding onto a stair! Probably he was being rushed to have it ready quickly, and he most surely didn't knew much about horses or riding in the slightest.
@@be6715 then no. Napoleon was a very, very good horseman, just that the person who did this painting is a painter and not a horseman. Then it makes sense to use a mule to cross the Alps rather than a horse which is much less robust. find out next time.
France in the 18 th century sounds a lot like America and pretty much like many other countries as well. **SIGH** Like King Solomon said “there is nothing new under the sun.”
I love the editing in these videos 😂, funny and educational!
I smiled when I saw your thumbnail - it's been a long time! I saved it so I could watch it just before bed thank you so much! I must tell you the first painting I saw of Napoleon was in the Louvre and it was Napoleon's wedding to Josephine. It was extraordinary. I fell in love with that piece and admired the talent
There is a recipe for Chicken Marengo in The Joy of Cooking. It says that Napoleon's chef made it from "ingredients his soldiers scrounged up from the surrounding areas." [paraphrased]
What they meant was that the French army was infamous for marauding over the countryside and robbing the peasants, because the French government expected them to feed themselves "off the country" where they passed through (including the French peasants in their own country) and didn't have a quartermaster corps.
So the ingredients for Chicken Marengo are the things that the Italian peasants would ordinarily have: tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and chickens. I'm sure the French brought their own brandy and wine.
Tasting History with Max Miller just made a video for Chicken Marengo stating that story was probably a myth since the chef mentioned didn't work for Napoleon at that time. Plus later versions used tomatoes though they weren't grown in northern Italy.
ruclips.net/video/O1flfls4N78/видео.html
Max Miller just did a video on Chicken Marengo (and Napoleon's eating habits) over on Tasting History.
I've only seen one version, the one in the Belvedere, but the thing is amazing. I spent a good hour with it over the course of multiple visits. The room is often all but empty, as the crowds are busy fighting to see that damned over-rated Klimt painting, "Der Küss."
"Der Kuss" , wenn schon..but making fun of the plebs :P
@@iuribortot6919 Ach der lieber! Kein umlaut! Glaubt mir, mein accent auf Deutsch ist schlecter persönloch als wenn ich schreibe.
I have never fully enjoyed this art work! I love the delivery style of this channel.
Napoleon WAS relatively young when he crossed the Alps though, he was only 28 or 29 I believe, so he would have looked something like that at that time, just with long hair perhaps.
The man on the painting is a waaay younger 😂
I'm a new subscriber but God, i'm already addicted, your sense of humor is like the icing on the cake, your edits are amazing too... I'm happy i stumble on your channel ❤
I think the way he holds his arm and hand also suggests the pose of the adlocutio that Roman emperors (take the sculpture of Augustus of Primaporta as an example) would do when speaking to their armies. Kind of makes this all the more ironic, considering that it's supposed to be a gesture by a great leader who is inspiring his troops while Napoleon came 2 days later after his army lol
I love your videos, perfect blend of history with a little sprinkle of comedy
... Initially, I heard the painting referred to as 'hot gouache' instead of hogwash... and my immediate thought was to protest that it was done in oils.
Admittedly, still hot, though.
Napoleon: Make me look badass!
Artist: Okay
Napoleon: Good, ooh I rolled a Nat 20 on Charisma!
It's not unlike the portraiture of John Singer Sargent, tbh. Celebrity portraits are rarely anything but flattering.
It's propaganda piece. So was, "The Death of Marat". A painting about a brutal tyrant responsible for the execution of thousands (sound familiar?), including David's previous patron, and subject of another great David painting, the great scientist, Lavoisier. David himslef was sentenced to be guillotined bur survived by sheer luck. Both paintings are considered masterpeices because of the wildly different emotions that they convey. David also painted the "Death of Socrates" and "Mars and Venus". Now, those were really inaccurate.
You did this topic dirty. Wow. Completely.
My favorite anecdote about his height is how pissy he got that General Dumas was way taller and more dashing than him.
After all of your comments on the painting, I was wondering how you could have missed those boots and not have said anything about them.....but then you waited until the very last sentence.
I should have known better. You don't miss a thing. Awesome.
Dude was not a sellout, he was loyal to his cause to the end. Yes, he painted a lie, but to make propaganda for his own beliefs. I feel sorry for him for this reputation
Napoleon made one of my ancestors a Marshall of France. He had the titles of; 1st Marquis d'Éguilly, Duc de Magenta and later became the President of the French Republic 1873-1879) Not bad for an Irishman. Sadly I have no title, nor money, and live in Australia. There is an even better version of this Painting, where Bonaparte has a wry smirk on his face. Much more fun than the ones on show here.
It's under Napoleon III and yes he was known to be more deadly than the guillotine during the terror, 30.000 civilians. Not bad at all
8:06
This is not a painting of Napoleon's coronation. This is a painting of Napoleon placing the crown on Josephine's head during HER coronation.
I love this channel and the style of presentation.
Yep pure propaganda piece....beautifully rendered and just too good to be true. Sidenote: If Napoleon really ever did spur that horse right there, he would've been bucked off, probably pretty badly. Also though mules are much less sexy than horses, they are much more sensible and a billion times more sure footed. Fantastic content as always, I look forward to each vid!
I always look forward to your videos as they strike a nice balance between being informative and funnier than hell. Thank you, AD!
Impeccable timing! Just saw the movie yesterday and this is a perfect follow up! Thank you, very helpful and you convey knowledge with such Grace and humor! 👏🏼
Love this! Quick biography and another fascinating art lesson!
"Imagine a world where the king. queen, and super rich pay nothing in taxes and throw lavish parties every night..." (3:30), OK, what a second, I'm trying, Oh, yea like America?
I generally don't expect artistic interpretations of real people to actually be 100% accurate. We're no different in modern day, any Biography movie that's made of a famous person is bound to be full of rampant lies and propaganda.
your voice calms me down, thanks for that
I don't know if painting Napoleon "with warts and all" would work ... for the artist, if he wanted to get free, alive and well. In Brazil an artist called Pedro Américo painted the Duke of Caxias in The Battle of Avaí with the Dolmen opened and away from the real battle to offend him...well...it didn't made wonders for his career. The Duke of Caxias in response even accused him of plagiarism because of his horse in the picture that the Duke said it was copied from the painting Napoleon in Arcole.
About Napoleon lets remember he fled from Egypt (that were butchered after simplifying a long and complex and nuanced story) as he saw new opportunities in France to raise in ranks and power, and it worked. I didn't know that The Intervention of the Sabine Women, The Death of Socrates, and The Death of Marat were from the same painter that painted this portrait of Napoleon.
Napoleon named his horse Marengo. That is how much he loved it.
And you can still see it in a museum!
WHO KNEW A PAINTING OF A LEADER WAS PROPAGANDA?!
the painting connoisseur QUEEN is BACK!
Hi! I really enjoy your videos, your style of delivery is like having a friend talk art with me (and it reminds of how in high school my friends and I would explain History and Literature with tons of pop culture reference and slang). However, I would like if you could share your sources, as I'm sure you do a ton of research for every video and would love to be able to dive deeper into some of these topics. I really appreciate your work and will often put on your videos to relax after a day's work.
This is a fantastic channel with great narration!
this channel is truly underrated.
Love the cross of art and history lesson.
PMS hitting so hard that I'm crying after Napoleon's quote with food I'm my mouth. Ps. Tears are not stopping.
I saw this painting in the Louvre. I thought it was a great painting. I also thought it was great propaganda, and was obviously not meant to be seen as "this is him captured on campaign". as though Napoleon reared his horse so that David, who wasn't there, could mentally capture the instant, because Napoleon, being so great, knew it was a pivotal moment.
It’s like he wants to emulate St George, except there’s no dragon 🐉 😂
What a lot of people forget so intense was just how young Napoleon was at the start of his rise to fame. At 24 following the Battle of Toulon and he became a major, then at 26 he was a general, First Consul at 28 and the Emperor at 30.
Too short for a general indeed, haha.
I'm still waiting 4 the fall of icarus, garden of earthly delights, the nightmare, aurora Triumphans, ivan the terrible and his son and death of marat ii
Polite
Is this beautiful painting still extant? Where is it? Do you have any idea of it's value?
It’s in the Louvre
You're rich and honey- It wasn't propaganda it was pretty on point-It might have been nice weather but it was still Alps weather- That means layers of clothing and boots- And yes, ready for snow cause it does snow In May Sometimes- and sometimes it's blowin to beat the band and rainin cats and dogs- and remember there's always snow above 2000 ft- yes Everybody rode donkeys over the passes- The horses were lead- So yeah he had a horse. So It did snow and rain in the Alps. So He was only a baby faced 31.
Not too far fetched at all.
Yes, it was like promotional picture. He crossed in blue grey great coat and donkey. It's common knowledge.
So we all saw the new movie about him? Lol. I knew it wasn't a historical documentary but still entertaining to watch.
Chicken Marengo ! 😂
Can you do "the hesitant fiancee"
I love this channel. I’m inspired to research the paintings further.
Love your voice, love your wit and love your info! Keep 'em coming!
I love this channel; enlightening and fun.
Actually - to be "historically accurate" - Bonaparte wasn't short. Also, there's this thing called "metaphore." It can be used in art (especially the propagandistic type) as well as literature. Nobody thought Napolean rode his horse on the edge of a cliff.
I could listen to you all day long!
Thank you for your very entertaining and enlightening videos. That picture was one of the first jigsaw puzzles I ever did long long ago. I bought it because I just thought it was a great painting. J.L. David was a great master. funny - just before the end of your vid, I admired his boots too. (Great minds, I guess.)
November 21 saw the auction of one of Napoleon’s hats for $2.1 million. The state of Louisiana is the only state in the country which still adheres to the Napoleonic Code (of law).
I love this channel so much!
6:10 - Suvorov, who undoubtedly was the most brilliant military commander of the era, also crossed the Alps just one year before Napoleon. In harsh weather. But he did that after delivering some buttkicking to the French, so of course Napoleon would rather not include him.
Excellent, as always. Great Thanksgiving present!❤🎉
Thank you! You have renewed my love of art history, and I look forward to your video’s!
This painting style inspired in a Charles V a horse in a Muhberlg battle by TItian in Prado Museum in fact de armor of Charles V is preserved in Royal Armory of Royal Palace of Madrid.
Plz do Marie Antoinette self portrait of the chemise.
Jacque Louis David praising Napolean is like the Joker rooting for Theodore Roosevelt just because he was cooler.
1:24
First, hes average height for the time.
Second, his head can be seen for miles
I love this channel informative and amusing
Can you please do 45 videos per week?
Please no, I have to go to work sometimes 😢
Thank you for this video! 😀💐
6:10 i said "Hannibal and Cannibal" out loud😭
Jacques downloaded some stock photos and made a collage
Did Goya do a couple Bonapart paintings? I thought Goya had become part of Napoleon painting team. I thought he went from Charles (?)to Bonaparte back to Charles(?).? I’m very new to the art world. I guess it makes sense that the hierarchy would have more than one Painter for themselves.
And a man with severe hemorrhoids, such that leading anyone from horseback in his latter years was very difficult.
Such great content and so well written and presented. Who are you? Tell us about your art education? Your inspiration to create your channel?
“A new government must dazzle and astonish.” The most French version of “shock and awe” I have ever heard. Also of note: Did JLD really paint Napoleon’s horse’s hooves as gilded? How Donald Trump.
3:50 hmmmmm sounds kinda familiar...