Art as Propaganda: Great Art Explained: Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David was the image-maker of revolutions, regimes, and empire. Born into a France simmering with discontent in the build up to Revolution, his life was marked by violence, ambition, and turbulence. He voted to execute a king, helped build the myth of a revolutionary republic, and when that republic imploded, he helped crown an emperor. His 1801 masterpiece Napoleon Crossing the Alps reveals everything about David: his obsession with power, his taste for dramatic storytelling, and how seeing is believing. This is the story of art as propaganda.

Courtesy of Great Art Explained on YouTube. Watch on YouTube ↗

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