Famous work · not an exact-location map point
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries
Napoleon standing in his study in the Tuileries Palace in Paris, just before dawn — the palace was burned in 1871 and later demolished.
No single real-world viewpoint
A full-length state portrait; the study is a constructed portrait setting, and the Tuileries Palace was destroyed in 1871.
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries — at a glance
- Artist
- Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)
- Year
- 1812
- Movement
- Neoclassicism
- Place
- The study, Tuileries Palace, Paris — destroyed 1871–1883
- Viewpoint
- An imperial interior that no longer exists; its site is the west end of the Louvre
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- c. 204 × 125 cm
- Now at
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Kress Collection)
Overview
This full-length portrait by Jacques-Louis David, painted in 1812, shows Napoleon standing beside his desk in the small hours of the morning, in the green-and-gold uniform of a colonel of the Foot Grenadiers. It is oil on canvas, about 204 by 125 cm, and it hangs in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
It was commissioned by a British admirer, the Marquess of Douglas, not by Napoleon himself.
Where was The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries painted?
Museum interpretation The room is Napoleon's private study in the Tuileries Palace, the royal and imperial palace that stood between the Louvre and the present Tuileries Garden in Paris. The palace was set on fire during the Paris Commune in 1871 and its ruins were demolished in 1883, so the room no longer exists; its site is the open western end of the Louvre courtyard and the garden.
What is in the painting?
Napoleon stands facing the viewer, one hand in his waistcoat. On the desk behind him a manuscript is rolled and marked ‘Code’; a quill lies where he put it down. The candles in the lamp have burned low and the clock reads past four in the morning; his sword rests on the chair. Bees, an ‘N’ and the imperial arms are worked into the gilded furniture and the green upholstery.
Look closely
The ‘Code’ manuscript
A rolled document on the desk lettered ‘Code’ — the Napoleonic civil code, the night's work.
The clock
It reads past four in the morning.
The burnt-down candles
The lamp candles have guttered to stubs — he has been up all night.
The set-aside sword
His sword lies on the chair, unused: government, not war.
Imperial bees and ‘N’
Bees, the initial ‘N’ and the arms of the Empire are worked into the gilt furniture and upholstery.
Meaning and interpretation
Interpretations differ. What the artist documented, what museums and scholars propose, and later or speculative theories are marked and kept separate.
The ruler as worker
Every detail is a message: the guttered candles and the small-hours clock say the Emperor has worked all night; the ‘Code’ on the desk and the untouched sword say he has done it on the civil law, not on war. The portrait argues that Napoleon governs for his people.
Napoleon's approval
Napoleon is reported to have been pleased, saying David had understood him — that he worked for his subjects' laws through the night. The remark is traditional and not a verified quotation.
History & provenance
The painting stayed in the Hamilton (Douglas) collection in Scotland for over a century, was sold in the 1880s, and eventually entered the Samuel H. Kress Collection and the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Sources
- National Gallery of Art, Washington — collection entry for Jacques-Louis David, ‘The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries’ (1812; Samuel H. Kress Collection)
- Ville de Paris — history of the Palais des Tuileries (fire of 1871, demolition 1883)
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