The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries

1812

Jacques-Louis David

Artist, French, 1748 - 1825

A man with pale peach skin and dark hair wears a military uniform and stands in front of a desk in this vertical portrait painting. He nearly fills the composition so seems close to us, and he looks directly at us. His body is angled slightly to our left and he tucks his right hand, on our left, flat against his chest between the buttons of his jacket. His navy-blue waistcoat is white along the front where it is fastened with brass buttons along his chest. The jacket has red cuffs, gold epaulets on the shoulders, and three medals affixed to the chest. White britches end just below the knee, and white stockings covering his calves are wrinkled at the ankle above black shoes with brass buckles. A candle burns low in a lamp on an ornately carved and gilded desk behind the man. Books and papers are piled on the desk to our right. More papers and a thin sword rest on a chair in front of the desk to our right. The chair is also carved and gilded, and is upholstered with scarlet-red fabric decorated with gold bees. The legs of the chair push back the forest-green carpet underfoot. A tall clock stands on the wall opposite us and reads 4:13. A few capital letters are written on a scroll of paper on the chair, “COD.” The artist’s name is also written as if printed on a scroll of paper on the floor behind the desk to our left: “LVD.CI.DAVID OPVS 1812.”

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How do portraits influence the way we see historic figures? David shows Napoleon Bonaparte working tirelessly for the people of France. The clock reads 4:13, the early morning. The candles are almost extinguished. The emperor’s hair is disheveled, his stocking rumpled. He has spent the night drafting the Napoleonic Code, France’s first civil law code. David’s portrait creates a powerful myth of the leader, but it’s not the full story. Napoleon was a military genius whose code became the model of modern legal systems worldwide, but he also left millions dead in his quest to conquer Europe. He reestablished slavery in France’s colonies and stole art from around the globe. His complex legacy is still the subject of fierce debate.

The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries (English)
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 203.9 × 125.1 cm (80 1/4 × 49 1/4 in.)
    framed: 243.9 x 165.1 x 15.2 cm (96 x 65 x 6 in.)
    framed weight: 63.957 kg (141 lb.)

  • Accession

    1961.9.15

More About this Artwork

A man with pale peach skin and dark hair wears a military uniform and stands in front of a desk in this vertical portrait painting. He nearly fills the composition so seems close to us, and he looks directly at us. His body is angled slightly to our left and he tucks his right hand, on our left, flat against his chest between the buttons of his jacket. His navy-blue waistcoat is white along the front where it is fastened with brass buttons along his chest. The jacket has red cuffs, gold epaulets on the shoulders, and three medals affixed to the chest. White britches end just below the knee, and white stockings covering his calves are wrinkled at the ankle above black shoes with brass buckles. A candle burns low in a lamp on an ornately carved and gilded desk behind the man. Books and papers are piled on the desk to our right. More papers and a thin sword rest on a chair in front of the desk to our right. The chair is also carved and gilded, and is upholstered with scarlet-red fabric decorated with gold bees. The legs of the chair push back the forest-green carpet underfoot. A tall clock stands on the wall opposite us and reads 4:13. A few capital letters are written on a scroll of paper on the chair, “COD.” The artist’s name is also written as if printed on a scroll of paper on the floor behind the desk to our left: “LVD.CI.DAVID OPVS 1812.”

Interactive Article:  Art up Close: Jacques-Louis David’s Mythical Napoleon

A magnified look at the details in the imagined portrait of the legendary French emperor.

Video:  Jacques-Louis David's "Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries" (ASL)

This video provides an ASL description of Jacques-Louis David's painting Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned by Alexander, marquis of Douglas [1767-1852, from 1819, 10th duke of Hamilton], Hamilton Palace, Strathclyde, Scotland;[1] by inheritance to his son, William Alexander Anthony Archibald Douglas, 11th duke of Hamilton [1811-1863], Hamilton Palace, Strathclyde, Scotland; by inheritance to his son, William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th duke of Hamilton [1845-1895], Hamilton Palace, Strathclyde, Scotland; (Hamilton Palace Collection sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 17 June - 20 July 1882 (8 July), no. 1108); bought by (F. Davis), probably buying for Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th earl of Rosebery, [1847-1929], London;[2] his son, Albert Edward Harry Mayer Archibald Primrose, 6th earl of Rosebery [1882-1974], London; sold 15 June 1951 to (Wildenstein & Co., London and New York); sold February 1954 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] Two of the three lists that David made of his works mention the NGA painting: "List B," compiled about 1815, describes it as "Le portrait en pied de l'Empereur représenté dans son Cabinet. Tableau pour l'Angleterre" (Schnapper, Antoine, et al., Jacques-Louis David 1748-1825, exh. cat., Louvre and Versailles, Paris, 1989: 20); "List C," dated 1819, refers to the original painting under no. "49. Napoléon en pied dans son cabinet.--Pour le marquis Douglas en Angleterre" and to David's copy of it under no. "50. Une répétition du même avec des changements dans l'habillement.--Pour M. Huibans" (Wildenstein, Daniel, and Guy Wildenstein, Documents complémentaires au catalogue de l'oeuvre de Louis David, Paris, 1973: no. 1938; Schnapper et al. 1989: 21).
[2] According to a 31 January 1977 letter from Sotheby Parke Bernet to David E. Rust, in NGA curatorial files, F. Davis was a London dealer who almost always purchased for the earl of Rosebery.
[3] The bill of sale (copy in NGA curatorial files) is dated February 10, 1954, and was for fourteen paintings, including Napoleon in his study; payments by the Foundation continued to March 1957. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2148.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1948

  • David. Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, The Arts Council of Great Britain, Tate Gallery, London, and City Art Gallery, Manchester, 1948-1949, no. 23, repro.

1955

  • De David à Toulouse-Lautrec, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 1955, no. 17, repro.

1974

  • French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution, Grand Palais, Paris, Detroit Institute of Arts, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1974-1975, no. 36, repro.

1985

  • French Connections: Scotland and the Art of France, Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1985, no. 49, repro.

1989

  • Jacques-Louis David 1748-1825, Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1989-1990, no. 206, repro.

2005

  • Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, 2005, no. 12, repro.

2006

  • Citizens and Kings: Portraits in the Age of Revolution, 1760-1830, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2006-2007, no. 24, repro.

2016

  • Loan for display with permanent collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 2016.

Bibliography

1824

  • Notice sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. J.-L. David. Paris, 1824: 72.

1826

  • A. Th. (Antoine Thibaudeau or Aimé Thomé de Gamond). Vie de David, Premier Peintre de Napoléon. Brussels, 1826: 184.

  • Mahul, A. Annuaire nécrologique, ou complément annuel et continuation de toutes les biographies ou dictionnaires historiques, ... Année 1825. Paris, 1826: 140.

1827

  • Coupin, P.A. "Essai sur J.-L. David, peintre d'histoire." Revue enciclopédique. 61 vols. Paris, 1819-1835: 31(1826):56.

1835

  • Lenoir, Alexandre. "David. Souvenirs historiques." Journal de l'Institut Historique 3 (1835): 10.

1844

  • Philippoteaux, F. Le Siècle de Napoléon, galerie des illustrations de l'Empire. Paris, 1844: unpaginated.

1845

  • Blanc, Charles. Histoire des peintres français au dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, 1845: 211.

1846

  • "Le Napoléon de David." L'Illustration, 7 December 1846: 272.

  • Marco de Saint-Hilaire, Emile. Souvenirs intimes du temps de l'Empire. Paris, 1846: 131-135.

1854

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.. 3 vols. Translated by Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake. London, 1854: 3:298.

1855

  • Delécluze, Etienne J. Louis David son école & son temps. Paris, 1855: 346-347.

1864

  • Seigneur, Jean du. "Appendice à la notice de P. Chaussard sur L. David." Revue universelle des arts 18 (1864): 365.

1867

  • David, Jules. Notice sur le Marat de Louis David suivie de la liste de ses tableaux dressée par lui-meme. Paris, 1867: 37.

1880

  • David, Jules. Le peintre Louis David, 1748-1825. Paris, 1880: 487, 647.

1895

  • Dayot, Armand. Napoléon raconté par l'image. Paris, 1895: 259-263.

1904

  • Saunier, Charles. Louis David, biographie critique. Paris, 1904: 108.

1930

  • Cantinelli, Richard. Jacques-Louis David 1748-1825. Paris and Brussels, 1930: 112, no. 123.

1940

  • Holma, Klaus. David, son évolution et son style. Paris, 1940: 79-80, 128, no. 129.

1941

  • Ledoux, C., and G. Lebard. "La décoration et l'ameublement du Grand Cabinet de Napoléon Ier aux Tuileries." Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français 192 (1941): no. 1.

1948

  • Cooper, Douglas. "Jacques-Louis David: A Bi-Centenary Exhibition." The Burlington Magazine 90 (1948): 277-280, repro.

  • The Arts Council of Great Britain. David, 1748-1825. Exh. cat. Tate Gallery, London, and City Art Gallery, Manchester, 1948:26, no. 23, repro.

1949

  • Cooper, Douglas. "Letters - Jacques-Louis David." The Burlington Magazine 91 (1949): 175.

  • Cooper, Douglas. "The David Exhibition at the Tate Gallery." The Burlington Magazine 91 (1949): 21-22.

  • Rosenau, Helen. "Letters - Jacques-Louis David." The Burlington Magazine 91 (1949): 113-114.

1952

  • Ledoux, C., and G. Lebard. "L'inventaire des appartements de l'empereur de Napoléon Ier aux Tuileries." Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français (1952): 186-204, esp. 192

1954

  • Hautecoeur, Louis. Louis David. Paris, 1954: 200.

1956

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 64-67, no. 22, repro.

  • Walker, John. "The Nation's Newest Old Masters." The National Geographic Magazine 110, no. 5 (November 1956): 622, 624, 646, color repro. 647.

1957

  • Goodrich, Frank B. The Court of Napoleon. New York, 1957: 300-302.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 374, repro.

1960

  • The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 10, repro.

1961

  • Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 193-194, color pl. 184.

1962

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 116, color repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 242, repro.

1964

  • Markham, F. "Napoleon and his Painters." Apollo 80 (September 1964): 187-191.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 38.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:398, color repro.

1967

  • Gonzales-Palacios, Alvar. David e la pittura napoleonica. Milan, 1967: 14, repro.

1968

  • Honour, Hugh. Neoclassicism. Harmondsworth, 1968: 178-179, repro.

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 31, repro.

1969

  • Hubert, Nicole, et al. Napoleon Exh. cat. Grand Palais, Paris, 1969: 51, no. 158, repro.

  • Kirstein, Lincoln. "The Taste of Napoleon." Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum Bulletin 4, no. 10 (1969): 21.

  • Mesplé, Paul. "David et ses élèves toulousains." Archives de l'art français, 4th series, 24 (1969): 100-101.

1973

  • Verbraeken, Rene. Jacques-Louis David jugé par ses contemporains et par la posterité. Paris, 1973: 11, 18, repro.

  • Wildenstein, Daniel, and Guy Wildenstein. Documents complémentaires au catalogue de l'oeuvre de Louis David. Paris, 1973: 190-191, 226, nos. 1642, 1645, 1648, 1651, 1938.

1974

  • Schnapper, Antoine, et al. De David à Delacroix. La peinture française de 1774 à 1830. Exh. cat. Grand Palais, Paris, 1974: unpaginated insert, no. 36 bis, repro.

1975

  • Burney, Fanny (Mme d'Arblay). Hemlow, Joyce, ed. The Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney. 6 vols. Oxford, 1975: 6:620-626.

  • Haskell, Francis. "Un monument et ses mystères. L'art français et l'opinion anglaise dans la première moitié du XIXe siècle." Revue de l'Art 30 (1975): 61-76.

  • Schnapper, Antoine, et al. French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution. Exh. cat. Detroit Institute of Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975:373-374, no. 36 bis, repro.

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 96, repro.

1977

  • Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 352-358, fig. 331-333, color repro.

  • Pope-Hennessy, John. "Completing the Account." Review of Colin Eisler, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, London 1977. Times Literary Supplement no. 3,927 (17 June 1977).

1979

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 102, pl. 89.

1980

  • Brookner, Anita. Jacques-Louis David. London, 1980: 168-169, repro.

  • Schnapper, Antoine. David témoin de son temps. Fribourg, 1980: 260-262, repro. (English translation, David, New York, 1980: 260-262, repro.

1982

  • Bleyl, M. Das Klassizistische Porträt. Gestaltungsanalyse am Beispiel J.-L. Davids in Bochumer Schriftern zur Kunstgeschichte. Frankfurt and Bern, 1982: I:86-87, repro.

1983

  • Bordes, Philippe, and A. Pougetoux. "Les portraits de Napoléon en habits impériaux par Jacques-Louis David." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th series, no. 102 (July-August 1983): 26-27.

  • Tait, A.A. "The Duke of Hamilton's Palace." The Burlington Magazine 125 (1983): 400-402, repro

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 416, no. 593, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 117, repro.

  • Nanteuil, Luc de. Jacques-Louis David. New York, 1985: 146, repro.

  • Ford, Brinsley. "Pictures lost to the Nation." NACF Magazine 29 (Christmas 1985): 20, repro. 21.

1988

  • Michel, Régis, and Marie-Catherine Sahur. David, l'art et le politique. Paris, 1988: 112, repro.

1989

  • Roberts, Warren. Jacques-Louis David, Revolutionary Artist. Chapel Hill, 1989: 171-173, repro.

  • Schnapper, Antoine. Jacques-Louis David 1748-1825. Exh. cat. Musée du Louvre and Musée National du Chateau de Versailles:474-477, 520-521, nos. 206, 207, repro.

  • Lévêque, Jean-Jacques. La vie et l'oeuvre de Jacques-Louis David. Courbevoye-Paris, 1989: 18, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 10, 185, 187, color repro.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 176, repro.

1993

  • Johnson, Dorothy. Jacques-Louis David: Art in Metamorphosis. Princeton, 1993: 216-220, repro.

  • Silver, Larry. Art in History. New York, 1993: 304, fig. 7.19

1997

  • Henderson, Anne. "Portraits & Personalities." Washington Parent (November 1997): 14.

2000

  • Eitner, Lorenz. French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I: Before Impressionism. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2000: 196-208, color repro.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 350-351, no. 282, color repro.

2005

  • Baillio, Joseph, et al. The Arts of France from François Ier to Napoléon Ier. A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein's Presence in New York. Exh. cat. Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 2005: 11-12, fig. 4, 64, fig. 81, 74(not in the exhibition).

2013

  • Bollinger, Dennis. World History. Greenville, 2013: 362, color repro.

  • Lee, Simon. "A Newly Discovered Portrait of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David." Burlington 155, no. 1,327 (October 2013): 685, 690, nt. 1, color fig. 41, 46.

2017

  • Jones, Leslie B. "James Monroe's White House State Furniture à la Française. White House History no. 44 (Winter 2017): 31, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: LVD.CI.DAVID OPVS / 1812; center right on scroll: CODE

Wikidata ID

Q1313605

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