2 December 1804: At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French.

16 comments
  1. In the hope of consolidating his own position, Fouché now suggested to Bonaparte that the best way to discourage conspiracy would be to transform the life consulate into a hereditary empire, which, because of the fact that there would be an heir, would remove all hope of changing the regime by assassination.

    Bonaparte readily accepted the suggestion, and on 18 May 1804, the empire was proclaimed. To this end, he designed a new coronation ceremony unlike that for the kings of France, which had emphasized the king’s consecration (sacre) and anointment and was conferred by the archbishop of Reims in Reims Cathedral.

    Napoleon’s was a sacred ceremony held in the great cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in the presence of Pope Pius VII. Napoleon brought together various rites and customs, incorporating ceremonies of Carolingian tradition, the Ancien Régime and the French Revolution, all presented in sumptuous luxury.

    At the last moment, the emperor took the crown from the pope and set it on his own head himself.

    Napoleon’s elevation to emperor was overwhelmingly approved by the French citizens in the French constitutional referendum of 1804.

    Among Napoleon’s motivations for being crowned were to gain prestige in international royalist and Catholic circles and to lay the foundation for a future dynasty.

  2. In the middle background you see Napoleon’s mother
    Maria Letizia Ramolino (1750–1836), Napoleon’s mother, was placed in the stands by the painter. She occupies a place more important than the pope. Actually, she did not attend the ceremony to protest the friction of Napoleon with his brothers Lucien and Joseph. Maria Letizia asked the painter to be given a place of honour. In 1808, when Napoleon discovered the canvas completed in the workshop of David, he was enthralled, and expressed his gratitude to the painter.

  3. I know i’m going to be massively downvoted here, but I have never quite understood the worship of Napoleon.

    He was a narcissistic egomaniac who invaded lots of countries and killed thousands of people. Not very different from other similar totalitarian dictators that we had during the 20th century.

  4. It took me a moment to realize the person kneeling was Josephine (the wife of Napoleon).

    For a little while, I thought the painter had decided to do a bit of satire -which is unusual for a painting in such a grand style- by painting a standing Napoleon crowning a kneeling Napoleon.

Leave a Reply