Napoleon declared himself France’s First Consul in 1799 and then emperor in 1804. Steuben’s painting depicts the moment of Napoleon’s death and seeks to capture the sense of awe in the room at the death of a man whose legendary career had begun in the French Revolution.
( Beethoven was once Napoleon's biggest fan but became his biggest critic.)įascination with the French leader’s death led Charles de Steuben, a German-born Romantic painter living in Paris, to immortalize the event. This mistrust revived Napoleon’s reputation and put him in a more heroic light.
King Charles X was seen as a threat to the civil liberties established during the Napoleonic era. The monarchy had been restored, but by the late 1820s, it was growing unpopular. In the decade following his demise, Napoleon’s image underwent a transformation in France.
