Maréchal Pérignon Holding the Imperial Crown 1805 - 1824

Curator: This is Jacques-Louis David's study, "Maréchal Pérignon Holding the Imperial Crown," housed at the Harvard Art Museums. It’s a delicate pencil sketch. Editor: The grid overlaid on the sketch suggests an almost scientific detachment in its creation, yet the crown radiates immense symbolic weight. Curator: Indeed. Consider the labor involved. David carefully constructed this image, likely as a preparatory sketch for a larger, more propagandistic piece celebrating imperial power. Editor: The crown, though rendered simply, becomes an immediate signifier. It condenses ambitions, conquests, and the heavy burden of leadership into a single, iconic object. Curator: Note, too, the material limitations of the sketch itself. The roughness of the paper, the softness of the pencil. How different this is from the ultimate, polished product intended for consumption. Editor: So, the imperial crown, a symbol of eternity, held by a mortal. A fleeting pencil line depicting potentially endless power. Food for thought! Curator: Yes, the stark contrast between the sketch's raw materiality and the crown's potent symbolism makes for an intriguing tension.