Napoléon, Emperor of the French
Medium
Etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
image: 18 1/16 x 12 5/8 in. (45.8 x 32 cm) plate: 22 13/16 x 15 3/8 in. (58 x 39.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of James Draper, in memory of Kathleen Howard, 2006
Accession Number
2006.150.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in 1811 at the zenith of Napoleon Bonaparte's imperial reign, *Napoléon, Emperor of the French* is a collaborative print by French artists Alexandre Evariste Fragonard—son of the famed Rococo master Jean-Honoré Fragonard—alongside Henri Castel, Madame Benoist (the neoclassical portraitist Marie Guilhelmine Benoist), and Marcelle. This etching and engraving on laid paper captures the Emperor's commanding presence, reflecting the era's fervor for heroic imagery. Measuring nearly 23 by 15 inches at plate size, it exemplifies how printmaking democratized art, allowing Napoleonic portraits ...