Introduction
There have been almost two centuries since Napoleon Bonaparte’s death, but he is still a significant figure in the political imagination of the West. Napoleon had artists like Jacques-Louis David, who was paid by the state to paint him positively, portraying him as a cool-headed and talented military leader, a loyal public servant, and even a saint. However, Bonaparte’s depiction in art evolved to that of a melancholy, even sad monarch. J. M. W. Turner is also an artist responsible for this shift toward a more aggressive and introspective representation of the Emperor. Despite the relative freshness of these works, the public’s good impression of Napoleon Bonaparte is primarily attributable to the creation of state-employed propagandists.
Discussion
Jacques-Louis David’s portrait of Emperor Napoleon is in the national art gallery, showing the history of Napoleon’s war. David is a political artist because his work frequently portrayed information about the history of Napoleon’s war and political influence. He creates the likeness of a timeless hero, depicted on coins and medals and whose likeness may be copied indefinitely to recall how Hannibal and his generals cross over into Italy. Turner’s position in this history of Napoleon was absorption and immersion in the forces driving the army’s movement into Italy.
The two portraits analyze the issue of the military by providing evidence of how powerful Napoleon was in conquering other countries like Italy despite landscape and other environmental barriers. The use of the middle route as the most prolonged battle approach defile and construction through the rock fall placed heavy burdens on the army, indicating the extent of how they were militarized by the use of elephant corps to cross the Alps into their mainland of the target.
Nature has powers that must be respected by all means, and the challenges that the armies faced due to environmental factors such as storms and the physical features like rocks and mountains that delayed the movement of their army. The forests encouraged some tactics that exposed weaknesses of the other military where little supply caravans were being supplied to Hannibal were often hijacked by Roman forces making Hannibal’s forces hard-pressed for weapons, food, and human resources. This indicates how nature controls the army’s movements during Napoleon’s war.
Conclusion
To conclude, portraits have been used to tell the history of the napoleon war and how the two fighting parties managed to execute their authorities. The fighting armies had powerful and organized troops to fight, indicating how authoritarian leadership skills can be used to win wars when they are required. There is also a clear indication of how nature has the power to control the management of human beings. The forces of nature can be positive and negative to affect the general settings of how organized an army may be.