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The crossing of the Great St. Bernard

Adolphe Yvon, Napoleon on the Gran San Bernardo. Ajaccio,  Ajaccio, Hôtel de ville, Salon Napoléonien
Adolphe Yvon, Napoleon on the Gran San Bernardo. Ajaccio, Ajaccio, Hôtel de ville, Salon Napoléonien

In the Salon Napoléonien of the Hôtel de Ville one finds a painting by Adolphe Yvon dated 1853: the subject is Napoleon, portrayed on horseback, crossing the Alps in May 1800. Temporal distance from the event, and surely a different stylistic context as well, provide us with a painting in which the imperial magniloquence that resounded in the painting of the same subject by his contemporary David is reduced to little more than a whisper. Here, the body of Napoleon seems to collapse under the weight of worry, with snow–covered mountains in the background. One can hear the words of Napoleon himself, describing the crossing: “We are struggling against ice, snow, storms and avalanches. The St. Bernard, astonished to see so many persons crossing it, throws obstacles in our way" (translation source: A Selection from the Letters and Despatches of the First Napoleon. Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 303).
The painting, commissioned for the gallery of the castle of Compiègne, would be presented at the Salon of 1853.

Adolphe Yvon, The First Consul descending from the Great St. Bernard
Salon Napoléonien dell’Hôtel de Ville
Place Foch
Ajaccio

The museum is open according to the following schedule
15 June to 15 September: from 9.00 AM to 11.45 AM and from 2.00 PM to 5.45 PM. Closed Monday mornings
16 September to 14 June: 9 AM to 11.45 AM and 2 PM to 4.45 PM. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and holidays

Admission ticket: full 2.30 euros; groups 1.50 euros
Free admission for minors under 15 years of age

http://www.ajaccio.fr/Salons-Napoleoniens_a50.html