In his epic historical drama, Ridley Scott depicts Napoleon Bonaparte’s career not only through a military lens but a romantic one, suggesting that Napoleon’s global conquests were driven by a desire to conquer his wife Josephine’s heart.
The film’s trailer offers a glimpse into the couple’s coronation in 1804, a moment immortalised by the artist Jacques-Louis David.
David’s work emphasises that the coronation broke with traditional royal protocol. Traditionally, queens were not crowned directly after the king. In doing so, Napoleon was signalling the start of a new dynasty. He also invoked a historical parallel. The last queen to receive such treatment was Marie de’Medici, crowned in May 1610.
