Coronation of Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine

David finished the first Coronation in 1807, and almost at once a group of American businessmen asked him for a second one at full size. They meant to tour it. Painted spectacles were a paying attraction then, and a canvas nearly 10 metres wide showing Napoleon crowning his wife was the sort of thing that sold tickets. David began in 1808, working from memory, and did not finish until 1822, by which time Napoleon was dead, the Bourbons were back on the throne, and David was living out his exile in Brussels. The picture went to London, then New York, Philadelphia and Boston, and reached Paris in 1833. Versailles acquired it in 1947. It repeats the original almost exactly, with one change. The dress of Napoleon's favourite sister is pink here instead of white.