Lucius Gahagan (1773-1855) was the son of the Dublin sculptor Lawrence Geoghegan (active 1756-1820). To the left of the central figures are grouped Napoleon’s sisters and brothers and with their husbands and wives the central figure in the stand behind Joséphine, is Napoléon’s mother ‘Madame Mère’ (who was actually absent on the day following a family row) as in original, the painter David occupies the upper tier of the gallery, above Madame Mère, accompanied by his wife and daughters reluctant attendee Pope Pius VII sits behind Napoleon, anointing the proceedings the bearded Ottoman ambassador looks on from his place above and to the right of the Pope whilst in the foreground lower right are members imperial court bearing the coronation regalia. It depicts the moment when Joséphine knelt before her husband in Notre Dame on 2 December 1804.
The coronation of Napoleon was attributed by Homan Potterton to Lucius Gahagan (1773-1855) after Jacques-Louis David’s massive propaganda painting of 1805-07. Provenance: Ex Collection of Homan Potterton (1946-2020), Assistant Keeper National Gallery, London (1974-80) Director of the National Gallery of Ireland (1980-88).
