Comte Sérurier, Maréchal de France, Holding the Empress' Ring on a Salver; verso: Sketch of Madame Mère and Five Attendants in Her Loge 1805 - 1824

Curator: Jacques-Louis David sketched this study, "Comte Sérurier, Maréchal de France, Holding the Empress' Ring on a Salver." Editor: The grid lines and the paleness of the sketch give it the feel of a blueprint for power, almost clinically detached. Curator: David was the premier portraitist of the Revolution and Napoleon’s Empire. This sketch foreshadows the visual strategies used to construct imperial authority. Editor: Indeed, the ring he presents becomes a potent symbol of imperial legitimacy, a cultural artifact loaded with significance. David is capturing more than likeness here, but also the performative nature of power. Curator: The reverse side even contains a sketch of Madame Mère and her attendants; David is composing the whole imperial picture. Editor: Which makes me wonder about the role of public image in legitimizing power then versus now. I see a continuous thread. Curator: It's a study in how symbols persist, even as empires fall.