Le Romantique

In order to perpetuate himself as a kind and charitable ruler who showed mercy to his enemies and fought for the rights of the French people, Napoleon commissioned paintings from well-known artists. These paintings were often of himself and his accomplishments and were placed in public buildings for the French people to see. 

While the image to the left, painted by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres in 1806, was not a commissioned piece, it demonstrates how highly Ingres thought of Napoleon. Ironically, it's also a prime example of what Napoleon disliked about the Neo-Classical movement, as he didn't like the over-extravagant, classical imagery to represent himself. He preferred to be shown as a hero of the people, not a lavished god.

His most prominent patronage was to Jacques-Louis David and Antoine-Jean Gros, who were gradually pulled from their Neo-Classical training into something that, in addition to the adaptation of Napoleon's ideals, would later be the foundation of the Romantic movement.