The Era of Napolean
These paintings represent two different depictions of a scene in which Napolean Bonaparte, the leader of the French empire, crossed the alps during one of his military campaigns. Napolean came to power in France after several military victories and a coup that allowed him to take over the government. During his reign as Emperor, Napolean established peaceful relations with the Church, centralized authority within the State, and used nationalism to influence the population as well as a justification for future French territorial conquests. However, French defeat in these wars would eventually lead to his end as a leader. After his ousting from power, control was once again handed back over to the Bourbon family. The first painting was created by Jacques Louis-David in 1801, and was recreated several times by him; the more realistic depiction included below was painted by Paul Delaroche in 1850.
