Napoleon Entering Cairo
Jean Léon Gérôme, c. 1900
About this artwork
Behold Jean Léon Gérôme'sNapoleon Entering Cairo a captivating gilt bronze statuette crafted around 1900. This 15 × 17-inch work, perched on a substantial base, vividly captures the dramatic moment of Napoleon's triumphant entry into Cairo in 8 during his audacious Egyptian campaign. Gôme, a master of French academic art and Orientalism, excelled in rendering historical scenes with meticulous realism, blending painterly precision with sculptural drama. The statuette commemorates a pivotal episode in Napoleon's expedition against British influence in the East, which sparked Egyptomania in Europe and led to groundbreaking discoveries like the Rosetta Stone. Gérôme's Orientalist lens romanticizes the clash of cultures, portraying Napoleon amid exotic surroundings with dynamic energy—horses rearing, figures in motion—frozen in gilded bronze for timeless allure. The gilt finish enhances its opulence, evoking imperial splendor. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Department of Painting and Sculpture of Europe, this statuette exemplifies Gérôme's versatility across media, inviting visitors to ponder the blend of conquest, exoticism, and artistry that defined 19th-century European imagination.