In this print, a group of connoisseurs examines several paintings. Given that these paintings depict rural subjects, a topic of which the connoisseurs can have little knowledge, the print questions the competency of these professed experts and so satirizes the role of the connoisseur.
The print depicts an antiquarian engaged in the study of several ancient artifacts. The object that most engrosses him, the mummy, seems to both mirror his image and return his gaze. Consequently, the print conflates the student of antiques with the art objects he studies, troubling notions of subjectivity, objecthood, and alterity.
This gallery is a virtual stroll through the crowds of Romantic Britain in search of personifications of artistry. As an exercise in flânerie, this gallery juxtaposes and assembles for our view those figures who fashion themselves as artistic through their clothing, conduct, and gestures. These figures demonstrate the diverse ways in which artistic identity was being codified for appropriation and commodified for consumption, and so point to the multiplying intersections of art and commerce.
Though this image is intended to accurately represent the retreat of Napoleon and his forces from Moscow, the event is fictionalized by the depiction of the troops with an ample supply of clothes and equipment. In reality, the French forces were in poor condition at this point in the Napoleonic Wars.
This image depicts the retreat of Napoleon and his forces from Moscow, with particular emphasis on the harsh and nightmarish conditions of their journey.
This image depicts Napoleon posing majestically as the newly crowned Emperor of France.
This image depicts the coronation of Napoleon at Notre Dame. Signifying the controversial nature of his rise to power, Napoleon crowns himself rather than being symbolically invested by the collective will of the nation.
Napoleon on his characteristic white horse is at the forefront of this image, which depicts the French army’s early attempt to cross the Alps. Other men, who are both on horseback and on foot, surround him. At the end of the visible portion of the procession are men tugging at something that is not included in the print. Beyond this group of men is a river and the Alps.
This image primarily depicts Napoleon's attempt to lead the bedraggled French forces across the Italian Alps. More significantly, the image criticizes Napoleon's lust for wealth and power by including the decontextualized figure of the Asian man, who serves as a symbol of the common perception of Asia as a source of capital.
This image depicts the Battle of Lodi, fought by the French forces (led by Napoleon) against the Austrians (Gen. Beaulieu). The French forces, though caricaturized in this image, were victorious.
