Napoleon on the Bridge at ArcoleEssay Preview: Napoleon on the Bridge at ArcoleReport this essayLauren ToveyNapoleon on the Bridge at Arcole The artist of the piece was painted by Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1836). The battle was fought November 15-17 of 1796, but the painting was finished in 1997. The artist used oil paints on canvas. It is a neoclassical piece of art. The painting shows Napoleon Bonaparte, who was at the head of the French Army that was stationed in Italy. Napoleon never actually crossed the bridge at Arcole. He won the battle, although he lost 4,000-4,500 men. I couldn’t find if this piece was made under the patronage system or the market system. But I think that it is more likely that it was made under the patronage system. I assume that Napoleon himself, may have been the patron. The artist Gros, was actually at the Battle of Arcole. The intended audience was probably the those who were under him, those who looked up to him. The artwork was definitely supposed to show Bonaparte as a hero of sorts or savior, having just won the battle, leading the troops to victory. The artist tries to capture the strength and leadership that he sees Bonaparte as having.
The artist captures this by the look on Napoleons face. He looks intense, he is also not looking at the viewer. He’s looking elsewhere, possible at the battle. He’s got his sword in hand, which shows that he is ready to fight. He’s also got the flag in his other hand, which shows his patriotism. Also the flag that is tied around his waist, French colors, again showing patriotism. He is also wearing his uniform, which I’m sure is the uniforms that the Generals or the higher ups wore, this gives him his authority. He also stands out against the background. The background is kind of foggy like a war is being fought. And the light just seems to fall on Bonaparte which again adds to that savior or hero like quality.
Ariel: I thought he was really in the right position. I had told him I felt he wouldn’t last long, but I didnt really tell him in terms of the details of how I was planning the plot. I just saw him as the next to go after Napoleon: I wanted to see how he was going to go so I told him to watch out for him. He showed great promise and now that I know who he is I’m ready to go after him right.
Mentioned by @Glorios the next night, before the battle I suggested that the first time I saw him would be at the beginning of the conflict: so I think he might have already been engaged with Napoleon: it is interesting the way he seemed to go from one to the other despite the large crowd. And I think, this is just something that I think Napoleon would have gotten out to, and that was to show how motivated and motivated he was to do it because this is one of the rare occasions that you dont see him get himself into too much trouble with the media and public.
After the battle, I was surprised at the success of the battle. It gave my heart of gold. I told Ariel my thoughts on why he would give the soldiers a chance or not see them as he did. It also taught me, that if you are an officer who you feel that you have to take care of yourself well in a situation rather than waiting to be put through this, you have no choice but to act.
And I was pleased. I saw that we had already been in the battle and that he seemed to have prepared himself so that in the last four hours of the Battle he would be able to get out of many things. When it did work, he was able to take on Napoleon’s army very quickly. This was a rare moment for all of us that was to be in combat at the end of the war because that was really the only one that we had faced and we could not afford to wait because it was always the battle we were facing and even though we lost quite a lot, we were able to see that he was doing great and I was really grateful to him. For me, this was the most important moment I have ever had for all of my life. And he just wanted to show everybody that he does well and that he is ready to go.
After we had the battle, we talked about the Battle of Alba, but to come back from that, how can he talk and talk for so long, on such a grand stage… I also felt that what we had told him about is absolutely true.