Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867). From 1796 his teacher was Jacques Louis David. In 1801 Ingres received Prix de Rome; 1806 to 1824 he spent in Italy. In 1825 he became a member of the Académie des Beaux Arts (Institut de France). In 1834-1841 he was Director of the Académie Française in Rome. He became famous not only as a painter, but also as an amazing graphic artist. He painted portraits and pictures with historical, literary and religious plots. He created a number of graphic portraits of musicians (Paganini, Liszt, Gounod).
It is still not known whether the picture, bought by the Legislative Corps not long before the Salon of 1806, was ordered or if the young artist, driven by ambition, painted it without waiting for a commission.
The emperor is depicted en face seated on the throne. He is wearing a tunic and a great coronation cloak and is holding the regalia: Charles V’s scepter, the baton of justice, and a gold laurel wreath, which was restored by the jeweler Biennais for the occasion. He is wearing the large gold chain of the Order of the Legion of Honor decorated with diamonds. On the drapery that serves as a background for the composition, on either side of the throne the arms of the Empire (left) and the Kingdom of Italy (right) can be seen.
The novelty of the portrait lies first of all in the composition, which is quite different from the traditional portrait of a monarch. Some of the drawings still preserved in Ingre’s museum in Montauban show his interest for Byzantine diptych and Middle Ages seals bearing an image of a ruling king in all his glory.
No matter where this master sought his inspiration, there is a tendency of breaking from the tradition of the official portrait and of looking for a new image of imperial power in his work via archaic devices.
The picture exhibited at the Salon failed to bring the success that the author was expecting. Quite the contrary, critics mocked the Byzantine splendor, primitivism and gothic style of the portrait. the reaction of Napoleon to a depiction of himself in such a way is still unknown.
The picture was not copied nor were engravings from it made. After the Salon it was taken to the Legislative Corps and placed close to the portrait of the empress by Letier. In 1832 the portrait moved to the depository of the Hotel des Invalides. Nowadays the Portrait of Napoleon on the Imperial Throne is considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces of 19th-century portraiture. F.L. | 
