Eugene Delacroix’s 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People depicts a famous image of the French Revolution. The document compares two paintings depicting Napoleon crossing the Alps and includes a quote from Napoleon's own memoirs describing the event. Based on Napoleon's description of riding a mule and being guided by a young man, the more realistic depiction would be Jacques-Louis David's 1800 painting Napoleon Crossing the Saint-Bernard, which shows Napoleon on a mule being led by a guide, matching the details from his own account.
2. Images of the Revolution - Liberty Eugene Delacroix’s 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People. Coldplay, Viva La Vida.
3. Images of the Revolution – NapoleonLook carefully at the two following images. Which do you think to be the most realistic. Justify by referring to evidence. Napoleon Crossing the Saint-Bernard. Jacques-Louis David, 1800. General Bonaparte crossing the Alps. Paul Delaroche, 1837.
4. The whole army crossed the Saint-Bernard in 17, 18, 19 and 20 May. I myself crossed on the 20th; in the most difficult places I rode a mule... My guide was a tall robust youth of twenty-two... Napoleon Bonarparte, Memiores, 1823. Read the following quote from Napoleon himself and then decide which of the two previous paintings is likely to be the more realistic depiction of the event.
