An excellent casting director coupled with a formidable human resources director and a marketing ace. The documentary by Raphaëlle Baillot and Jérôme Bermyn has the good idea of looking at the pioneering Napoleon in terms of communication. This pioneer of large-scale propaganda, until his last days, shaped the smallest details of his myth and staged his rise. He will methodically construct the story of his own glory using the best artists of the time. And, with absolute power, methods of censorship to cut short any criticism.
Prints, tableware, postcards, snuff boxes, coins, it is everywhere in the daily life of the French. A cult planned during the Italian campaign by Bonaparte who discovered the importance of painting to ensure his glory. In 1796, Antoine-Jean Gros painted it, at the Arcole bridge, leading his troops to attack. Small downside: it was General Augereau who carried out this act of bravery when Bonaparte had fallen into the water. Less glamorous for posterity.
Another famous painting: in 1800, the first consul was 31 years old and wanted a painting that would establish his myth. Jacques-Louis David paints him crossing the Grand-Saint-Bernard pass on a fiery horse. In reality, as confirmed by a much less known painting by Paul Delaroche, it was on the back of a mule that a drawn-looking Bonaparte crossed the dangerous Alpine trail.
« Fake » pictural
The most famous pictorial “fake”? The coronation of December 2, 1804, at Notre-Dame de Paris, signed by the faithful David. Monumental painting, which has become the most viewed at the Louvre after the Mona Lisa. “This painting is a summary of the ideal conception of society that Napoleon wanted: men on one side, women on the other,” summarizes historian and journalist Xavier Mauduit.
The historical truth is, here again, severely disrupted: presence of Madame Mère (while she was in Rome), zany presence of an Ottoman ambassador, face of Josephine (41 years old) outrageously rejuvenated, invented gesture of papal blessing, and even Julius Caesar in the gallery…
Later, the great man’s overweight and baldness were skillfully disguised by official artists. After his death on May 5, 1821, driven by romantic nostalgia, Napoleon the influencer was reborn from his ashes. Stendhal, Hugo, Rodin, Magritte, Dali will seize it. Cinema too, with hundreds of films. Not to mention literature: some 800,000 works are said to have been written about the Emperor. Final victory? Eurovision won in April 1974 by Abba, a Swedish group, with their hit Waterloo and its conductor disguised as Napoleon. Hats off to the artist…