Napoleon Raising the Crown with Both Hands; verso: Inscription 1805 - 1824

Curator: This is Jacques-Louis David's sketch, "Napoleon Raising the Crown with Both Hands." I find the bareness of the figure quite striking. Editor: It's like a ghost taking the throne. Look at the pencil grid. It's a study, but the lines feel like restraints, too. He's trapped by his own ambition. Curator: Indeed, David maps out Napoleon's imperial ambitions. We see Napoleon almost as a god, ascending, claiming power. Editor: And yet, it's just graphite on paper. David's workshop, the apprentices sharpening pencils, the cost of the paper itself – power visualized through such mundane means! Curator: A fascinating paradox, isn't it? The sketch, so raw, yet hinting at the grand propaganda machine that was to come. Editor: It makes you think about the material reality behind every grand gesture, every coronation. The labor, the resources, the sheer weight of it all. Curator: It really does. It takes away the romanticism and reveals the bones of power. Editor: Leaving us to consider who profits most from the process of imperial representation.