Le Paris de Patrick- page

23/03/2026

In 1800, Jacques-Louis David painted *Bonaparte Crossing the Great St Bernard Pass* at the request of King Charles IV of Spain. This painting would become the most famous official portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte.

More than just a portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, it is a dramatisation of power: a heroised leader, master of nature, ranked alongside Hannibal and Charlemagne.

An image designed to make an impression, to convince… and to endure.

A few years later, Paul Delaroche offered a different interpretation of the same episode.

Gone is the myth: Napoleon is tired, frozen with cold, almost ordinary.

No rearing horse, just reality.

Two visions.

Two narratives.

And a question that remains relevant today:

do we prefer heroes… or the truth?

If you’re interested in JL David’s subject, I’m hosting a webinar in English on 14 April at 6pm. To join, click this link

https://www.worldvirtualtours.online/events/jacques-louis-david-the-louvre-exhibition/

16/03/2026

last minute,

At 6 pm (PARIS TIME) this evening (16 March), I’m hosting a one-hour webinar on the exhibition held at the Musée d’Orsay about the birth of Impressionism. If you’d like to join, please click on this link.

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

10/03/2026

There is a painting preserved at the Pontoise museum that has a surprising history to say the least: it seems to contain a little... from the heart of Louis XIV.

At the death of the Sun King in 1715, his heart was taken according to royal tradition and placed in a funerary monument in the church of Saint-Paul–Saint-Louis in Paris. During the Revolution, these royal relics are removed from their urns. The architect in charge of the operation is accompanied by two painters, including Alexandre Pau de Saint-Martin (born on September 7, 1751 and died on June 14, 1820)

At the time, some artists used in their pigments a substance called 'mummie', obtained from mummified organic materials and reputed to produce very deep browns. Taking advantage of the situation, Saint-Martin secretly recovers part of the embalmed heart of Louis XIV in order to manufacture his colors.

In 1810, he thus created the canvas Vue de Caen, which is therefore kept at the Pontoise museum, some of whose pigments would come from this strange source.

Remorseful under the Restoration, the painter finally returns to King Louis XVIII what remains of the heart of Louis XIV, as well as that of Louis XIII. The relics will later join the basilica of Saint-Denis.

Another painter, Drolling, friend of Saint-Martin, would not have used the hearts of Louis XIII and Louis XIV to make his 'mummie'. On the other hand, he would have largely used the Val-de-Grâce.

Thus, if one day you contemplate one of his canvases in a museum and admire the subtle chiaroscuro of his painting, remember that they may contain, invisible to the eye, some pieces of the entrails of Anne of Austria, Marie-Thérèse, the Regent... and a few others still.

This story reminds us that in the 18th century, art and matter could sometimes have unexpected relationships.

27/12/2025

Tonight we went to see@the of in was fantastic and the theater beautiful

27/12/2025

6 years later@we went back to see a great I love his work this pics is today with and the other was 6 years earlier, you find him at the underground he is from@

27/12/2025

Nice or in London

27/12/2025

26/12/2025

Even a in can have a

25/12/2025

❤️ to all you you from

25/12/2025

25/12/2025

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