Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker
Technical Details
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Title
Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker -
Author
Antonio Canova -
Year
1808 -
Room
XIV
Aware of the power of images, Napoleon wished to have himself portrayed in a colossal marble statue by Antonio Canova, the most important sculptor of his day. The sculpture did not go down well in France, but the classicising model and idealised features were appreciated by Eugène de Beauharnais, the Viceroy of Italy, who commissioned a bronze replica (now in the courtyard). This plaster model was also taken from the casting mould and erected in Room XV on 15 August 1809 to mark the opening of the completed Pinacoteca.
