Approaching six o'clock in the afternoon, after looking at many important paintings in the French Oil Painting Gallery, Ye Tian and the others finally came to the most important painting in this exhibition hall and began to stop and admire this famous painting.

This painting is the Coronation of Napoleon I, one of the most important works of art in the Louvre, which has been on display in the Louvre since its birth and is never allowed to leave.

The Coronation of Napoleon I is an oil painting by Jacques Louis David, a famous French painter and founder of neoclassicism, between 1805 and 1807.

Jacques-Louis David was the most important French painter before and after the French Revolution, and was also Napoleon's court painter, painting many famous paintings that glorify Napoleon's great achievements.

At the same time, he is also the darling of the Louvre, one of the painters with the largest collection of paintings in the Louvre!

From the Grand Gallery to the French Oil Painting Museum, Ye Tian and his team have seen no less than 20 David's paintings along the way, including "The Oath of the Horace Brothers" and "The Mediation of the Sabine Women" and other world-famous paintings.

In this "Coronation of Napoleon I", David has recorded the coronation of the king held at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1804 through his own brush, which is of great historical significance.

This is a huge work, the size of the oil painting is very large, about 9.3 meters wide, 6.1 meters high, the painting area is more than 50 square meters, occupying a whole wall in the exhibition hall, very shocking effect!

In addition to the size, there are more than 150 figures in this painting, each with different costumes, postures and expressions, and each figure is very vivid and vivid!

The complex scene environment of the coronation ceremony, the light and shadow effects that many characters should have, and the grasp of complex color levels all determine that this is a huge oil painting of characters with extremely high difficulty!

From accepting Napoleon's commission, going to Notre Dame Cathedral to observe the coronation ceremony, making a panoramic model of the coronation ceremony, starting to make drafts, until starting to paint.

In order to complete this monumental work, David spent more than two years and almost three years!

As soon as the painting was published, it caused a huge sensation, and Napoleon was so pleased that he immediately collected it and displayed it in his own royal palace, which was the Louvre!

At the same time, this masterpiece has also become David's most famous masterpiece, and has become an unsurpassable peak of neoclassicism!

In the center of the painting, Napoleon, dressed in purple velvet and ornate splendid cloak, has already put on the crown, and his hands are holding the small crown, ready to put it on the head of the Empress Josephine, who is kneeling in front of him.

Behind Josephine the large fuchsia velvet cloak was carried by two noble women, and behind Napoleon sat Pope Pius VII of Rome, whose posture and expression looked rather helpless, and he could only acquiesce to the scene before him.

The momentum of the whole painting is very solemn and grand, the characters in the painting are more than 150 people, and each character is depicted with an accurate portrait, meticulous and very vivid!

Napoleon and Josephine, in particular, could barely find any flaws in their faces, movements, expressions, and even the embroidery on their costumes.

Around Napoleon and Josephine were court dignitaries, ministers, generals, officials, noblewomen, cardinals, and envoys of various countries.

Above the painting, Napoleon's mother, Maria Ramolino, sits on a golden throne and watches the coronation ceremony with a condescending smile on her face.

In fact, this character was added by David on his own initiative!

Because of some disputes between Napoleon and his brother Lucien, Napoleon's mother, who was on Lucien's side, did not attend Napoleon's coronation!

Although this was David's own initiative, Napoleon was very grateful to David, and his actions undoubtedly made the painting more perfect and beautified the image of Napoleon.

In addition, David also painted himself into this masterpiece, which is very inconspicuous in the corner of the upstairs stand.

It can be said that this "Coronation of Napoleon I" is the meticulous work of the painter David's life, giving full play to David's outstanding talent in sketching and color sketching!

The characters in the painting are all in shape and spirit, and the colors obey the overall concept, and the picture is golden and magnificent, fully expressing the strong texture of the characters' clothing and the environment in the palace.

Since the Renaissance, the seriousness of classical painting has reached such a state that it is unsurpassed among the painters of the time!

After standing in front of this painting and admiring it carefully for two or three minutes, everyone woke up from the shock.

Immediately afterward, Betty whispered with emotion:

"Wow! This painting is not only huge, but the coronation ceremony is even grander and shocking! Although the previous "Wedding in Cana" is larger, it is not as visually striking as this one!"

Ye Tian turned his head to look at Betty, then smiled and whispered:

"The reason for this difference is mainly because of the relationship between the subject matter, although "The Wedding of Cana" is larger in size and has many characters, but after all, it is just a wedding!

The Coronation of Napoleon I is different, it depicts a very important historical event and the coronation of the king, and the two cannot be compared.

Coupled with Napoleon's great fame and neoclassical painting style, the shocking effect of this "Coronation of Napoleon I" is obviously stronger than "The Wedding of Cana""

As soon as the words fell, Anderson on the other side interjected:

"Steven, let me explain this painting, this painting is called "The Coronation of Napoleon I", why is it Napoleon who crowned Empress Josephine?

Is there any story in the fact that the Pope, who sat behind Napoleon, looked more like a guest of honor than came to Paris to coronate Napoleon?"

Ye Tian nodded lightly, and then began to explain this world-famous painting.

To appreciate this painting, it is necessary to understand the background of the creation of this painting, which Napoleon decided to hold in order to consolidate his throne in November 1804 after he became emperor.

Napoleon, the emperor of France and who had ravaged Italy madly, had the then Pope Pius VII come to Paris to coronate him with great arrogance.

Napoleon's purpose was very clear, that is, to use the great religious appeal of Pope Pius VII to get the French people, as well as the peoples of Europe, to recognize his 'legitimacy'.

During the coronation, Napoleon refused to kneel before the Pope and let Pius VII crown himself, and he took the crown directly and put it on his head, completing his self-crowning!

Later, when painting the Coronation of Napoleon I, the painter David took great pains to choose the second half of the coronation of the Empress by the Emperor in order to avoid this embarrassing scene.

In this way, Napoleon's central position was highlighted in the picture, and the Pope was not embarrassed, and at the same time, the legitimacy of the coronation was maintained, and everyone was happy.

However, David is still playing tricks here, and if you look closely at the expression and movements of Pope Pius VII, his expression looks very depressed, and he looks like he dares to be angry and dare not speak.

Looking at the two fingers he stretched out forward, pointing in the direction of Napoleon's back, it is surmised that Pope Pius VII may not have cursed Napoleon in his heart!"

"Hahaha"

There was a light laugh at the scene, and Betty and Anderson both laughed, and they were all overjoyed.

Several visitors who were closer to each other were also amused by Ye Tian's explanation, and they were very happy.

When the laughter subsided slightly, Ye Tian picked up what he had just said, and continued to explain this world-famous painting to Betty and the others, which was still very professional, vivid and extremely exciting!

While explaining, he also secretly turned on the perspective and began to quickly scan this world-famous painting, hoping to discover some surprising secrets!