Last month my husband and I spent an hour or so at the Nelson-Adkins Museum in Kansas City viewing the special exhibit entitled “Napoleon: Power and Splendor.”
The exhibit was a little unusual for an art museum, I thought, but very effective. Most of the artworks on display were not shown because they were great works of art, but because they demonstrated the theme of the exhibit. That theme was that Napoleon was a master at creating propaganda. Not only was he himself a master, but he surrounded himself with others, particularly in his Imperial Household, who helped him hone his image with the public.
From the time he was First Consul, Napoleon commissioned paintings that portrayed him in ways he wanted people to see him. First as a military strategist and hero, then as a statesman and politician, and later as an emperor as great as any monarch in France’s royal past.
The artwork he commissioned attempted to legitimize and aggrandize his reputation in each of the roles he held. He picked images and poses in these paintings that evoked Greek and Roman mythology and empires, American statesmen, and French monarchs to demonstrate that he was equal or superior to any rulers the world had seen before.
The exhibit held pictures of Napoleon in a variety of impressive settings and poses, many pictures of his family, and a wealth of ornate household objects. Much of the artwork was not very good, or at best undistinguished. And the gold and silver table settings and other items were similar to many I’ve seen in other museums. But the exhibit left me with the overall impression that Napoleon and his counselors were geniuses at creating a magnificent personality—as masterful as any celebrity in today’s world. Napoleon may not have had Facebook or Twitter at his fingertips, but to the extent he could mold public perceptions with the tools of the early 19th Century, he did so.
The Napoleon exhibit at the Nelson-Adkins Museum runs until March 10, 2019, so those in the Kansas City environs have plenty of time to see it. My husband and I may well go back, as our viewing of the last part of the exhibit was somewhat rushed. And, of course, after we see the exhibit again, we’ll need another stop at the Rozelle Court for a snack or meal.
What artwork have you seen that attempts to persuade?
