Bonaparte Visiting the Plague Victims at Jaffa, by Antoine-Jean Gros. 1804
Napoleon himself commissioned this painting to represent his incredibly gruesome Egyptian Campaign, during which is troops contracted the plague. Notice Napoleon there in the middle, oh-so-bravely touching the infected man, seeming to be heroically restoring hope to his troops. The soldiers look to him as their savior!
The real story was that Napoleon ordered these men to slaughter thousands of their Egyptian prisoners, and then, after learning they had contracted the plague, told their doctors to poison the troops in order to stop the disease from spreading. Pretty horrible stuff! This painting was Napoleon's attempt to cover up his deeds and regain political popularity....by presenting himself as a Christ figure among his soldiers. Thank God for modern photography, eh?
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