Napoleonic imaginations
Domenica is the Sunday insert of Il Sole 24 Ore, dedicated to culture, art and entertainment (art director Madda Paternoster).
As the opening of an issue (30 october 2025) dedicated to the contamination between real and imaginary, the cover story is about three authors, with different approaches and motivations, who have argued that Napoleon never existed.
These unusual texts make a great starting point for a reflection on the gap between the real historical figure and the one mythologized by common narratives.
So, how best to represent this complex topic?
I thought it would be interesting to have a dialogue between a real element and an imaginary one, even in the illustration. After several drafts and sketches, the intuition: to take one of the most famous paintings depicting Napoleon, replacing the horse with a winged unicorn, an iconic imaginary animal!
And there you have it: a perfect blend of reality and myth!
The concepts I submitted to the editorial team
Having to work on Napoleon, I immediately found myself pulled into a very well-known iconographic repertoire: from the iconic hat to David’s solemn portraits.
The narrative about Napoleon is based on a very strong presence: which is why the first draft I proposed is instead based on absence. Therefore the iconic figure of the emperor is suggested by a void in the composition of the image.
Finally, the other two concepts are instead a development of the same idea: to merge a real element such as a portrait with a mythological element. On the one hand Napoleon rides a winged unicorn instead of his classic white horse. On the other he himself becomes a mythological figure, a centaur.
My process, from the rough sketch to the final
