napoleon crossing the alps jacques louis davidIt is an equestrian portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul. Jacques Louis David painted five versions of this portrait, the first of which was commissioned by King Charles IV of Spain as a token of understanding between his kingdom and the French Republic. Bonaparte is depicted here wearing the uniform of a general in chief, wearing a gold bicorne, armed with a saber and draped in a coat puffed up by the wind that rushes through its folds.