The masters behind our paintings
Jacques-Louis David – the painter who invented Napoleon
* 30 August 1748, Paris · † 29 December 1825, Brussels
He painted for the king, voted for his execution, went to prison and became Napoleon's first painter. Few artists lived so close to power – or risked so much.
A life like a history painting
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A boy with a scar and ambition
Jacques-Louis David is nine when his father is killed in a duel. He grows up with two uncles, both architects, and draws wherever he can. A sword wound from a fight in his youth leaves a scar on his face and a growth on his lip – for the rest of his life he speaks with difficulty. All the louder his paintings would speak.
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Four tries for a ticket to Rome
The coveted Prix de Rome sends young painters to Italy. David fails three times; after one defeat he even refuses to eat for days. On his fourth attempt in 1774 he wins. In Rome he discovers antiquity: clear lines, stern heroes, grand gestures. It becomes his style – Neoclassicism.
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An oath that electrified Paris
In 1784, in Rome, he paints the “Oath of the Horatii”: three brothers swearing to their father to fight for Rome while the women grieve. At the Paris Salon of 1785 it becomes the sensation of the exhibition. The painting becomes a symbol of duty and sacrifice – just a few years before the Revolution.
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Painter of the Revolution
When the Revolution breaks out in 1789, David is right in the middle of it. He becomes a deputy, a friend of Robespierre, and in 1793 votes for the execution of Louis XVI. That same year he paints his murdered comrade Marat in the bathtub – “The Death of Marat”, a picture like an icon.
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Behind bars
When Robespierre falls in 1794, David falls with him. He is imprisoned and paints his self-portrait there – without a pose, brush and palette in hand. After his release he paints “The Intervention of the Sabine Women”, a picture of reconciliation.
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Napoleon's first painter
Then a young general enters his life: Napoléon Bonaparte. David paints him crossing the Alps, later his coronation in Notre-Dame. In 1804 Napoleon appoints him “Premier peintre”, the Emperor's first painter. His pupils include Ingres, Gros and Gérard.
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Exile and the end
After Napoleon's fall the Bourbons return – and anyone who voted for the king's death must leave France. David goes to Brussels in 1816. He does not ask to return – he stays in exile for the rest of his life. He dies there in 1825 from the consequences of an accident with a carriage. His body remains in Brussels; his heart is buried in Paris, in Père-Lachaise cemetery.
His most famous paintings
Five pictures worth knowing – four of them hang in the Louvre and in Brussels today, one of them five times across Europe.
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Oath of the Horatii The manifesto of Neoclassicism: duty before feeling, on a stern stage of three arches. -
The Death of Marat A revolutionary as martyr – plain, quiet and all the more powerful for it. -
Self-portrait Painted in prison: sober and honest, with an alert gaze. -
Napoleon Crossing the Alps One of the most famous equestrian portraits in the world – David painted five versions. -
The Coronation of Napoleon Around 6 × 10 metres of imperial splendour: Napoleon crowns Joséphine in Notre-Dame.
The story behind the picture
Calm on a fiery steed
In May 1800 Napoleon's army crosses the Great St Bernard Pass. He himself follows a few days later – on a sure-footed mule, in fine weather. For the painting he wants something else: “calm on a fiery steed”.
He refuses to sit for it – whether portraits of great men resemble them does not matter, it is enough that their genius lives in them. So David paints a storm, a rearing horse and a billowing cloak. Into the rocks he carves the names Bonaparte, Hannibal and Charlemagne.
The result is not a travel report but a myth. And that is exactly what we bring into your home.
Stretched on canvas, leaning against the wall: this is how the general moves in with Rocky.
Your pet as Napoleon
We keep David's composition – horse, cloak, Alps – and put your pet in the saddle. Fur, markings and expression come from your photo. The preview is free.
Images of the original paintings: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.