Visual Arts Essay: Comparing Napoleon Paintings, Design Principles

This essay undertakes a comparative analysis of two paintings centered around Napoleon Bonaparte: Jacques-Louis David's 'Napoleon Crossing the Alps' and Kehinde Wiley's 'Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps.' The essay meticulously examines the visual elements, including emphasis, pattern, and balance in David's work, and the contemporary modifications in Wiley's interpretation, such as the attire and background. It explores how each painting reflects its respective historical context, highlighting the differences in design techniques and the evolution of artistic expression across the 19th and 21st centuries. The paper delves into the historical and artistic significance of each piece, offering insights into their composition, symbolism, and the artists' portrayal of Napoleon. The essay also references the use of oil on canvas, the size of the paintings, and their current locations in museums, providing a comprehensive overview of the artworks.

Running head: ART
Art
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The purpose of the following compare and contrast essay is to determine the similarities
and differences between two important paintings of previous years. The details about the artwork
will have to be described in this paper with explanations about visual elements and design
principles and other important factors that are related with it.
The first image that will be discussed is ‘Napoleon Crossing the Alps’. This image was
drawn by Jacques-Louis David in the year 1800. It was painted with oil on canvas. The size of
this painting is 8’10”*7’7”. It is kept at a museum at Versailles in France (Kingkaysone, 2014).
Though it is a fantastic work of art, some people of contemporary times would view this as
propaganda i.e. pure and very simple. As of its content and expression, it is probably the most
beautiful and expressive paintings made on the theme of Napoleon Bonaparte. It is an equestrian
portrait i.e. liked by people who have been a part of royalty in medieval period. This portrait is
completely a portrait of authority (Kingkaysone, 2014). The raised arms of Napoleon probably
suggest his conquering of lands in future. In this image, Napoleon and his horse have dominated
the pictorial beauty (Bell, 2015). Therefore, it is a major visual element of this image. The
landscape of the image echoes Napoleon through his raised arm towards the endless and his
billowing cloak. In this painting, David is trying to accomplish his mastery over praising
Napoleon and his victories over enemy forces. This shows the dominance of Napoleon. The three
visual elements of this image are emphasis, pattern and balance.
The second image is that of Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps. This image is
painted by Kehinde Wiley (Levin, 2014). It was painted in the year 2005. The size of the
painting is 9’*9’. It is kept at Brooklyn Museum at New York in USA. This image is also painted
by oil on canvas just like the earlier one. The difference lies in the fact that the earlier image was
done in the 19th century and this is painted in 21st century. Therefore, this image is painted with

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better and developed techniques. This image is mainly the reconstruction if the original one
created almost two hundred years ago (Levin, 2014). Wiley has kept some visual elements of the
image intact but also made some significant changes as well. However, the outfit used in this
image is contemporary. The young man representing Napoleon wears camouflage fatigues,
timberland work boots and a bandana that have given him a militaristic attitude. These are major
visual elements in this image (Tsai, 2015). The design techniques are illustrated through the
incorporation of tattoos, red wristbands from Starter sportswear company that represents he is a
modern man. The violence among black men in America has been portrayed in this painting.
Thus the scenario and background is much different from original painting.
It can be concluded that both paintings have displayed their approaches to historical
issues in 19th and 21st centuries respectively. Therefore, it will be obvious to understand that
visual elements and design techniques in these paintings are different from each other.

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Reference List
Bell, D. A. (2015). Napoleon: a concise biography. Oxford University Press.
Kingkaysone, J. (2014, October). Reading art: Multiliteracies and history education. In The
Educational Forum (Vol. 78, No. 4, pp. 409-420). Routledge.
Levin, G. (2014). Anti-Heroic Images in Contemporary American Art.
Tsai, E. (2015). Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic. Prestel Verlag.