The analysis of the artwork Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The analysis of the artwork - Essay Example As evident in coronation artwork, the painting embraced heroic morality and nature. It also embraced the classics, the ancient apostle of reason, and the simplicity and calm grandeur of the highly-ranked in the society. Having been victorious in his campaigns in Italy and Egypt, Napolean won military prestige and became the first Consul following the Brumaire Coup D’etat. Although the artwork shows Empress Josephine being coronated by Napoleon, it was Napoleon who had first coronated himself on December 2, 1804 at Notre-Dame Cathedral. Napoleon had been consecrated by a Pope just as his predecessors Charlemagne a thousand years before. This was a great way of securing his authority in the French Catholic and Monarchic tradition. Nonetheless, the ceremony of the crowning of Napoleon distanced itself from the church through facing the high altar only for Napoleon to crown himself and facing the congregation. After the self-coronation, Napoleon crowned the Empress to demonstrate that he was more distinguished, less authoritative, and more of a â€Å"French Caballero†. The dimensions of the painting of the coronation of the Empress is 621 Ãâ€" 979 cm (244.5 Ãâ€" 385.4 in), and uses the oil on canvas medium. This paper contextualizes the artwork by David from the political, economic, religious, gender, technology, regional, religious, ethnic, and generational perspectives. Traditionally, Coronation ceremonies were painted and David borrowed heavily from previous coronation painting. The best example was the Coronation of Marie De Medici by Reuben. Having witnessed the Coronation of Emperor Napoleon first-hand, David, inspired by Reuben, borrowed the layout of his painting and had participants pose. Like in previous coronation paintings, the artwork highlights the protagonists in the centre and illuminated with a beam of light. Emperor Napoleon is, however, keen to observe the tradition of holding the ceremony in