Released in theaters on November 22, Napoléon has already attracted more than 600,000 spectators. Director Ridley Scott accepted the fact of having taken liberties with historical facts. Is this memorable scene from the film true?
Since its release on November 22, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon has come under numerous criticisms, particularly because of the historical liberties taken by the director. In the media, the 85-year-old director brushes aside all questions relating to this bias.
“You really want me to answer? You better not, I’ll be rude!”he replied to a BBC journalist questioning him on this subject. “I don’t need historians to make my Napoleon epic”he asserted in the columns of Times.
Did Napoleon crown himself?
However, if Ridley Scott delivered his own vision of the character of Napoleon, he still respected certain very significant historical moments. Thus, the image of the Little Corporal crowning himself Emperor in 1804 is completely true.
According to the historian Thierry Lenza specialist in Napoleon, the latter seized the crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII to crown himself Emperor on December 2, 1804.
This scene is faithfully transcribed in Ridley Scott’s film. However, the words chanted by Joaquin Phoenix at that moment are romanticized in relation to the reality of historical facts.
“He wanted in fact to be crowned in Paris and, what is more, by the Pope himself, which had not happened to a French sovereign since Louis the Pious, in the year 816”, explains Thierry Lenz. However, contrary to what we sometimes read, the historian specifies that Napoleon did not snatch the crown from the hands of the Pope.
“This gesture had been anticipated during negotiations carried out a few days earlier between Mgr Bernier, Bishop of Orléans, and the papal entourage. Those who thought they read the astonishment on the pleasant face of the Holy Father exaggerated their observation.
As for the oath, it would certainly be pronounced on the Gospel, but outside the presence of Pius VII, who, once his part had been played, would retire to the sacristy.maintains the French historian.
Excerpt from the coronation scene
“His small figure blended into this enormous ermine mantle. A simple laurel wreath encircled his head. It looked like an antique medal. But he was extremely pale, truly moved, and the expression in his eyes seemed severe and a little troubled”wrote Mme de Rémusat, a woman of letters present at Napoleon’s coronation.
For the historian Zack White, who spoke on this subject at the microphone of the BBC, “Napoleon knew how to attract attention. Crowning himself was the ultimate expression because the Pope was present.
It’s a bit like punching the Supreme Pontiff and saying: You are not the most important person in this room. My authority is greater because I represent the French people”says Zack White.
Furthermore, for the impressive coronation sequence, Ridley Scott was inspired by a famous painting painted by Jacques-Louis David: “The Coronation of Napoleon“. This immense canvas measuring ten by six meters is kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris.