Portrait of Napoleon in his work cabinet

Portrait of Napoleon in his work cabinet (in French Napoléon dans son bureau) is a work of Jacques-Louis David, official painter of Napoleon Bonaparte of which there are two versions. The original, which dates from 1812, is the one that is conserved in the National Gallery of Art of Washington D. It is an oil painting that measures 204 centimeters in height and 125 in width. There is another version in the Palace of Versailles, France. Jacques-Louis David was the official painter of the court of Napoleon (peintre de l'Empereur) from 1804, year of his coronation, which represented in the coronation of Napoleón (1804). Previously, he had painted him as a legendary hero, comparable to Hannibal or Charlemagne, in his Napoleon crossing the Alps (1799).

This portrait of 1812, however, the year of Napoleon's first defeat on the Russian front, presents Bonaparte in a less heroic and solemn way. And it fails to convey the sense of self-confidence that, as an official picture, should have intended.

Indeed, it appears in his study or cabinet, surrounded by Egyptian-style furniture. He is 43 years old, his face is bloated and pale and his eyes melancholy. The posture is slightly curved, the body seems to have lost its shape.

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