Napoleon Crossing the Alps

Bonaparte took an army over the Great Saint Bernard pass in May 1800 to come at the Austrians in Italy from behind, and beat them at Marengo in June. He himself crossed a few days after the troops, in fair weather, on a mule led by a local guide. He refused to sit for David, saying nobody checks whether portraits of great men are good likenesses, and asked only to be shown calm on a spirited horse. David worked from a bust and had his son climb a ladder to hold the pose for him. On the rock under the hooves he painted three names, Bonaparte, Hannibal and Charlemagne, the others who had brought armies over these mountains. Five versions were made. This one went to the royal palace in Milan, was claimed by the Austrians in 1816 after Napoleon's fall, stayed in Milanese hands until 1825, and was hung in Vienna in 1834.