Napoleon the Great
Medium
Engraving in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 56.8 × 41.5 cm (22 3/8 × 16 3/8 in.); Sheet: 76.5 × 55.5 cm (30 1/8 × 21 7/8 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
109156
Art Historical Context
This striking 1808 engraving by Auguste Gaspard Louis Boucher Desnoyers presents Napoleon Bonaparte as a commanding imperial figure at the height of his power. Created during the Napoleonic Empire, the work captures the era’s intense focus on leadership and grandeur, using the title “Napoleon the Great” to evoke comparisons with legendary rulers of the past. As a reproductive print, it would have allowed Napoleon’s image to reach a wide audience across Europe, reinforcing his authority through widely distributed visual propaganda. Desnoyers, a skilled French engraver, worked in the precise bl...