In the comments section, Simon Abrahams writes:
Thought you might be interested in how the iconic portraits of Napoleon – by Ingres, David, Gros and others – almost all resemble the artist’s self-portrait. These are not portraits of Napoleon, as most scholars imagine, but portraits of the artist-as-Napoleon, as a few alert viewers at the time did recognize. Take a look at the comparisons on my website:
http://www.artscholar.org
They are really quite fascinating! I think there might be a whole episode of the podcast on the portraits, something we should do sometime. Thanks Simon!
Just seen your comment nine months late. I’d be more than happy to do a podcast (if I knew how). What’s involved?