Bonaparte Crossing the Alps
1848 · Oil on canvas · Musée du Louvre, Paris
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Paul Delaroche (1797–1856)
- Year
- 1848
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 289 × 222 cm
- Collection
- Musée du Louvre, Paris (on deposit at the Louvre-Lens)
- Movement
- Academic
Bonaparte, huddled in a grey greatcoat on a mule led by a local guide, picks his way over the Great St Bernard Pass in May 1800 with a tired face and his hat pulled down against the wind. Delaroche painted it in 1848 for the Earl of Onslow, who wanted the crossing as it had actually happened, in deliberate answer to David's rearing horse and flying cloak; the mule, the guide and the weather all come from the memoirs of the campaign. Delaroche made several versions; the first, now in Liverpool, was followed by this one, bought by the Louvre in 1982 and on deposit at the Louvre-Lens. The picture's realism was taken by some as a slight on the emperor, but it became almost as popular an image of him as the David it corrects.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A grey-coated general on a mule picking across a snowy mountain pass, in grey, white and blue-black, for a study, hallway or office at 24×32 in black. Slate, stone or deep blue walls suit the snow; pair it with David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps for the myth and the fact.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Academic painting
- Era
- 19th century (1848)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×32. Prints at 12×16, 18×24, 24×32 in — 12×16 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 18×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×32 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or dark wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Bonaparte Crossing the Alps in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Bonaparte Crossing the Alps painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
