03 — ARTWORK
The Coronation of Charles X
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 514 x 972 cm
- TYPE
- Historical
PALETTE
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- FILE
- 1447 × 750 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
This is a case where a comparison will give a good idea of how differently the same subject was handled by Jacques-Louis David and one of his numerous pupils. The pupil was François Gérard who was also commissioned to paint a coronation, that of Charles X in 1827. The heavy draperies of the baldachinOriginally a textile canopy supported on poles and carried dignitaries and relics. Later, an architectural canopy of stone or wood set over a high altar or bishop's throne. (brocade canopy), the costumes and the sweeping gestures look back to the BaroqueThe period in art history from about 1600 to about 1750. In this sense the term covers a wide range of styles and artists. In painting and sculpture there were three main forms of Baroque: (1) sumptuous display, a style associated with the Catholic Counter Reformation and the absolutist courts of Europe (Bernini, Rubens); (2) dramatic realism (Caravaggio); and (3) everyday realism, a development seen in particular in Holland (Rembrandt, Vermeer). In architecture, there was an emphasis on expressiveness and grandeur, achieved through scale, the dramatic use of light and shadow, and increasingly elaborate decoration. In a more limited sense the term Baroque often refers to the first of these categories. The development of the Baroque reflects the period's religious tensions (Catholic versus Protestant); a new and more expansive world view based on science and exploration; and the growth of absolutist monarchies., as might be expected at the Restauration. It is significant that the centre of the painting is not occupied by the act of coronation but by the bishop, who is standing with his back to the king, his eyes raised in suppliance to heaven. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 11 minutes):<BR><A HREF="#" onClick="w=window.open ('/music1/19_cent/mussorgsky_godunov_coronation.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350');w.opener=this;w.focus();return true"><B>Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, Coronation Scene</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE>
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-rf59d02516e84ef,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {The Coronation of Charles X by GÉRARD, François},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/grard-franois-r9ec8f0d56af929/the-coronation-of-charles-x-rf59d02516e84ef},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
