Equestrian Portrait of Napoleon as First Consul 1770 - 1830

Editor: So, here we have "Equestrian Portrait of Napoleon as First Consul," dating roughly from 1770 to 1830. It's a print and drawing hybrid. There is an overall tentative mood to it, kind of unfinished... What stands out to you when you look at it? Curator: The materials tell a potent story here. The toned paper, the pencil sketches, and what seems like light pencil work suggest something beyond just capturing a likeness. It's about production, consider the labor involved in producing even this sketch. Editor: Production, sure, it seems like he had some resources... Maybe he did multiple studies? Curator: Exactly! But even the paper itself wasn't universally accessible. Think about the social context: Napoleon, at the height of his power, being rendered not in oil paints on canvas, the medium of high art, but through accessible graphic means. Why this choice of readily-reproducible media? Editor: To disseminate an image, and therefore power, to a wider public? I guess traditional paintings are static, they're for one place only... Curator: Precisely. And it speaks volumes about Napoleon’s awareness of the power of accessible imagery, reproducible imagery. How the control and the creation of those images also wields power. Editor: I didn't think about the distribution being part of the message. Curator: It is! The print challenges the very notion of "high art" by being mass-produced. This brings art closer to craft and raises critical questions about labor, materiality and even Napoleon's desire for control through consumerism. This makes me wonder if other works from this time explored the intersection of politics and reproducibility? Editor: Definitely, that tension between exclusivity and wide distribution seems key here, I learned a lot looking at this portrait!