# Napoleon Pardoning the Rebels at Cairo

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb/napoleon-pardoning-the-rebels-at-cairo-r509456cf4d8ae3>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [GUÉRIN, Pierre-Narcisse](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb>)
- Date: 1801-1850
- Technique: Oil on canvas, 365 x 500 cm

## Commentary

Guérin&#39;s Napoleon Pardoning the Rebels at Cairo has a grain of truth, since Napoleon had shown clemency to the Mamluk leaders of the 1798 rising - but only after the slaughter of most of the insurgents. Guérin burnishes Napoleon&#39;s myth subtly, placing his hero to the rear and rather dwarfed by those he has pardoned, in a sort of inverted modesty. If the rebels are allowed dignity in defeat, it is to emphasize the magnanimity of the victor. &lt;P&gt; &lt;TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR=&#34;\#99CCCC&#34;&gt; &lt;TR VALIGN=MIDDLE&gt;&lt;TD&gt;&lt;IMG SRC=&#34;/support/gif/listen.gif&#34; BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE&gt; Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 51 minutes\):&lt;BR&gt;&lt;A HREF=&#34;\#&#34; onClick=&#34;w=window.open \(&#39;/music1/beethoven/beethoven\_symphony3.html&#39;, &#39;newWin&#39;, &#39;scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350&#39;\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true&#34;&gt;&lt;B&gt;Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 \(Eroica\) in E Flat major op. 55 \(1803\)&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/A&gt; &lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;&lt;/TABLE&gt;

## Related artworks

- [Aurora and Cephalus](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb/aurora-and-cephalus-rff60bce6768e99>)
- [Clytemnestra and Agamemnon](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb/clytemnestra-and-agamemnon-rcb6ddee72d2d96>)
- [Dido and Aeneas](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb/dido-and-aeneas-r5eb3bb6b98f901>)
- [Henri de la Rochejaquelin](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb/henri-de-la-rochejaquelin-r3f3d8326a5ac9d>)
- [Morpheus and Iris](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb/morpheus-and-iris-rf66ee93d804fb1>)
- [Sappho on the Leucadian Cliff](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb/sappho-on-the-leucadian-cliff-r54da0a6268fc3f>)
- [The Return of Marcus Sextus](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gurin-pierre-narcisse-raa24d8fc66fafb/the-return-of-marcus-sextus-r6b4943833f2d7b>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)