The Power of Art

In the documentary, "The Power of Art," Simon Schama vehemently argues that, although Jacques Louis David was a very persuasive and provocative propaganda artist, he should be blamed for supporting the state of terror that France was in by exaggerating the situation to prove his point. Schama does acknowledge that David was an effective painter and conveyed his opinions extremely well through the canvas, but he disagrees with his methodology.

However, David's propaganda artwork did not have to be restricted to a certain political era. As times changed, David's paintings changed to glorify the modern, popular cause. This painting of Napoleon crossing the Alps was painted in 1801, two years after he declared himself First Consul, but three years before he was officially voted as emperor by the French senate. In this image, Napoleon is pictured as a hero, a savior, mounted in a glorious pose on top of his rearing horse. Even for his time, he was a very short man, but in David's painting, he is portrayed taller than in actuality, rivaling the height of his horse. His hand pointed up and forward conveys subconsciously that Napoleon is a powerful leader who is ready to take charge. While this painting is not realistic by any means, this supports Schama's thesis in that David bends the reality of the situation to provoke certain thoughts and reactions from its viewers. However, when viewing a painting, some amount of reality can be compromised, giving the public an opinion that leans towards that of the painter.

Jaques-Louis David

WRITE a blog post in which you first identify and analyze Simon Schama's thesis from The Power of Art: Jacques-Louis David and second test it by selecting a piece of David's art (easily found here, here, and here) and analyzing the purpose – propaganda or not – of your selected work. [NB: Be sure to note the date of your selection painting or sketch and remember that the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was signed in 1789, Louis XVI was arrested in 1792 and executed in 1793, the Terror reigned from 1793-94, and Napoleon rose to power in a coup d'état in 1799.]

Simon Schama's thesis was that art can be used to manipulate and influence people's opinions, by portraying people and objects in a light the painter wishes the viewer to see them. This could be applied specifically to Jaques-Louis David, as done in the part of the movie we watched, but is also applicable to any form of art used as propaganda. he shows it by using David's paintings as examples, especially his painting of Marat. The thesis is proved especially true in this painting, with many small details that add up to show the viewer exactly what David wants them to see.
Picture: (from 1801, shortly after Napoleon's rise to power)


This Painting proves the thesis even farther. The site I used does not have a date, but it would have been painted after the Tennis Court Oath, most likely during the revolution. It is a very successful piece of propaganda, portraying the creators of the Tennis Court Oath in the best light possible. The light in the room makes them look very angelic, which makes them seem more like the saviors David thought they were, rather than painting them to show how hectic the organization probably was. The man in the center, presumably a leader of the organization, is portrayed even standing the rest of the room, highlighting his importance, and making him appear more powerful, and by extension, making him seem more worthy of power to the viewer. The colors in the painting are muted and virtually non-existent, which gives more focus to the actual content of the painting, rather than simply appreciating its beauty. This makes the other techniques I described more effective, because the viewer has to look for a longer length of time to really absorb the painting rather than just being able to glance, notice that they like the color palette, and move on.

Jacques-Louis David

Simon Schama's thesis:

The power of persuading people does not have to be violent. Jacques-Louis David was able to pass along deep messages to the people of France through his artwork. Although many people (especially from the Third Estate) could not read, they could still understand what David was portraying through his paintings.

The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of Empress Josephine on December 2, 1804.

Jacques-Louis David depicts the consecration of Napoleon, and when he crowned his wife Josephine. Unlike other rulers, Napoleon crowned himself. In the past, the pope had the honors of crowning the new ruler, symbolizing the Catholic church's importance in society. It held the power to crown the new ruler. However, Napoleon stood in front of the pope, and simply crowned himself. Before the revolution, the Church played an important role in society, and held a certain amount of power. Now, Napoleon took away the power that they had, making him the one and only ruler of France. 

The image above depicted Napoleon crowning his wife, rather than himself, so that he was not to be represented unbelievably selfish to all of France. All eyes but one are on him and the crown, yet again depicting his absolute power. Josephine is looking at the Emperor's feet. Although she is being crowned Empress, Josephine is kneeling to Napoleon, portraying that he has much more power. In this painting, Napoleon and his wife are the only people wearing fur, representing that they are extremely rich. 

The crown that Napoleon is wearing resembles the crown that Caesar wore, and he also appears to be wearing some sort of toga. Caesar was an extremely successful absolute ruler, so the fact that he is wearing this depicts the idea that he wishes to be as successful as Caesar.

 Napoleon, his wife, and the clergy seem to be the people with the most light. This was done so that the people of France could see that the clergy was present, and was behind the Emperor. When taking a closer look at Napoleon's red velvet attire, a pattern of bees is represented in gold. From afar, the bees resemble a fleure de lis, the old king's symbol representing the absolute monarchy. Bees were the very first emblem of France, back during the Merovingian dynasty. One reason Napoleon chose the bees could be because he wanted to start a new beginning of France with a new absolute monarchy.

Through all of the symbols and signs in this painting by David, the people could grasp that Napoleon, their new Emperor, was going to be a great ruler.