Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The Empress Josephine
Jacques Louis David French
Not on view
In addition to glorifying Napoleon in his new role, the opulent coronation ceremony that David was assigned to commemorate heralded a new social order built around the imperial court. It was essential, therefore, that viewers could readily identify all the attendees. To this end, David made a great many portrait studies from live models. Here, he captures Josephine’s vulnerability, with her bent head, exposed neck, and pale skin set off by a corkscrew of dark hair falling from her diadem. In contrast to the heavy makeup and velvet cape she wore to the ceremony, she is pictured here in a simple dress and appears closer to her true age of forty-one.
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