My fave Annie Jacobsen claim is that what crashed in Roswell in 1947 was a Nazi-designed flying saucer crewed by Soviet midgets or children who Dr. Mengele had surgically altered to look like aliens, because Stalin wanted to cause a repeat of the Orson Welles' War of the Worlds scare. So. Yeah.
Dan Kaszeta FRHistS@dankaszeta.bsky.social · 3d agoThe Annie Jacobsen discourse is not new to me. It is not the first case of a popular author publishing an alleged history book with, shall we say, claims that are difficult to substantiate.
![The Coronation of Napoleon[a] (French: Le Sacre de Napoléon) is a painting completed in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon, depicting the coronation of Napoleon at Notre-Dame de Paris.
The painting is a subject of The Public Viewing David's 'Coronation' at the Louvre, a painting by Louis-Léopold Boilly done in 1810, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.[2]
Composition
Sketch by David of Napoleon crowning himself.
The composition is organized around several axes, and incorporates the rules of neoclassicism. One axis is that which passes through the cross and has a vertical orientation. A diagonal line runs from the pope to the empress. All eyes are turned towards Napoleon, who is the center of the composition. Napoleon, Pius, and Josephine are illustrated in profile upon the steps towards the altar. The Emblem of the Holy See is hung above the attendants to the left while La Pietà de Notre-Dame de Paris is partially seen at the rightmost edge of the canvas.
Characters
The characters in the painting.
Napoleon I (1769–1821) is standing, dressed in coronation robes similar to those of Roman emperors. Others are merely passive spectators. In the actual painting, it is possible to see the outline of what was originally painted: Napoleon holding the crown above his own head, as if placing it on himself.
Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763–1814) is kneeling in a submissive position, as called for in the French Civil Code. She received the crown from the hands of her husband, not the pope. Her robe is decorated with silk and was possibly intended to convey support of the Lyon silk manufacturers the Revolution had harmed.[3]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:njcpzzh6j2gzb43jcrzggp2j/bafkreib3jwrvo5lsv77w52sry26hcbdsxwmkv7lsdj5p2qbgo33prxitse)
