Question

In 1800, Napoleon led his reserve army across the Alps into Italy to fight Austrian forces that had laid siege to Genoa. Although Genoa had fallen by the time Napoleon had reached it, the crossing led to a series of important military victories for Napoleon.

Review the two paintings of Napoleon. David chooses to include a broader view of the mountains and the sky than Delaroche does. What is the main effect of these different choices on the paintings?

Answer 1

Well, despite his high achievements, Napoleon was quite a miserable person (according to his appearance and complexes). Looking on the David's painting, we can see the brave man filled with courage, who points up his finger towards the sky, showing he's ready to reach the victory whereas in the Delaroche's picture Bonaparte is portrayed like exhausted man with desperate and sleazy look. The main point is that he's not a superman, he's just a MAN, so Delaroche's painting is more realistic because he treats emperor as a normal human with its lacks.

Answer 2

Answer: the main effect of these different choices on the paintings is to show Napoleon as a man capable of everything.

Step-by-step explanation:

Bonaparte Crossing the Alps was one the five paintings first made by David in 1800, requested for the King of Spain as a gift to Napoleon and in which the intention is to make him look like a hero conquering a path that Austrian thought it would be impossible to cross and for which he took the fastest way (Gran San Bernardo) to conquer Italy again. David painted him like a hero with an elegant uniform and cape on a fierce horse mastering the path with his will, here the landscape is a scenario, not a subject.

On the other hand, Paul Delaroche in 1848-1850 made a more realistic painting of Napoleon crossing the Alps, a style that was emerging at that time. Delaroche portrayed him as a common man with cold wearing a grey coat crossing the path on a mule, exhausted from the journey. He tried to portray him as an ordinary man that was suffering even in his most daring feats to make him look more admirable.