The Museo del Prado places “Napoleon” in History

The Museo del Prado and Sony Pictures shared this morning a video as part of the promotion of the film of the season, “Napoleon” by Ridely Scott, with some of the masterpieces by Goya that represent that time in history and their characters.

In addition to the reknown scenes from the War of Independence, the 2nd and 3rd of May, the video shows The Family of Charles IV, in which the painter conveys a magnificent psychological portait of the, at that time, Royal family, specially King Charles IV and his heir Ferdinand VII, historical characters with whom Napoleon had a relationship.

The actor that represents this imaginary Napoleon (as he was not able to know the Prado since it opened in 1819 and he was deported in the island of Saint Helen by then) is wearing the original costume that the actor Joaquim Phoenix wore in the movie and which has travelled deliberately from Los Angeles.

The character is looking at The Surrender of Bailén, painted by Casado del Alisal in 1864, which represents the surrender of the French troops in that battle. Even though Napoleon wasn’t there, that battle took place in 1808, it is known as the first defeat in the battleground for Napoleonic troups.