page_title: Napoleon Crossing the Alps
section_title: Differences between the five versions
hierarchical_section_title: Napoleon Crossing the Alps / Paintings / Differences between the five versions
context_page_description: Napoleon Crossing the Alps is any of five versions of an oil on canvas equestrian portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte painted by the French artist Jacques-Louis David between 1801 and 1805. Initially commissioned by the King of Spain, the composition shows a strongly idealized view of the real crossing that Napoleon and his army made across the Alps through the Great St. Bernard Pass in May 1800.
context_section_description: In the original version held at Malmaison (260 × 221 cm; 102​¹⁄₃ × 87 in), Bonaparte has an orange cloak, the crispin (cuff) of his gauntlet is embroidered, the horse is piebald, black and white, and the tack is complete and includes a Running Martingale. The girth around the horse's belly is a dark faded red. The officer holding a sabre in the background is obscured by the horse's tail. Napoleon's face appears youthful. The painting is signed in the yoke of the breastplate: L. DAVID YEAR IX.
  The Charlottenburg version (260 × 226 cm; 102​¹⁄₃ × 89 in) shows Napoleon in a red cloak mounted on a chestnut horse. The tack is simpler, lacking the martingale, and the girth is grey-blue. There are traces of snow on the ground. Napoleon's features are sunken with the faint hint of a smile. The picture is signed L.DAVID YEAR IX.
  In the first Versailles version (272 × 232 cm; 107 × 91​¹⁄₃ in), the horse is a dappled grey, the tack is identical to that of the Charlottenburg version, and the girth is blue. The embroidery of the gauntlet is simplified with the facing of the sleeve visible under the glove. The landscape is darker and Napoleon's expression is sterner. The picture is not signed.
  The version from the Belvedere (264 × 232 cm; 104 × 91​¹⁄₃ in) is almost identical to that of Versailles but is signed J.L.DAVID L.ANNO X.
  The second Versailles version (267 × 230 cm; 105 × 90​¹⁄₂ in) shows a black and white horse with complete tack but lacking the martingale. The girth is red. The cloak is orange-red, the collar is black, and the embroidery of the gauntlet is very simple and almost unnoticeable. The scarf tied around Napoleon's waist is light blue. The officer with the sabre is again masked by the tail of the horse. Napoleon's features are older, he has shorter hair, and—as in the Charlottenburg version—there is the faint trace of a smile. The embroidery and the style of the bicorne suggest that the picture was completed after 1804. The picture is not dated but is signed L.DAVID.
caption: Detail of Napoleon in a golden cloak
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "289", "Image ImageLength": "451", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:09:10 03:23:18", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "240", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "446", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7870", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF SubSecTime": "625", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "289", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "451", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "320"}