‘Napoleon Crossing the Alps’ (also known as ‘Napoleon at the Saint-Bernard Pass’ or ‘Bonaparte Crossing the Alps’) by French artist Jacques-Louis David is the formal title of the equestrian portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte which captures an idealised image of the crossing Bonaparte made in May 1800 to Italy to retake the territory lost to Austria.

The oil painting was requested by the French ambassador to Spain, Charles-Jean-Marie Alquier, as part of the propaganda campaign for the Consulate which had taken over the government of France following the Revolution of 1789. The crossing had been made in fine weather and on a guided mule but the artist was asked to show Napoleon calmly mounted on a fiery steed. There are five versions of the painting, each with slight differences, with the original at Château de Malmaison, formerly the home of Napoleon’s wife Joséphine de Beauharnais and the headquarters of the French government from 1800 to 1802. — S.N.