Question

Name two rulers and discuss how they use the power of art to persuade and to validate their authority.

Answer 1

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Name two rulers and discuss how they use the power of art to persuade and to validate their authority.

During the eras of kingdoms and empires, emperors, rulers, and kings, there were not many ways for rulers to reach all their subjects. In today’s time, we have TV, radio, ads, commercials and so many ways for those in power to communicate with their people. Unfortunately, rulers back then did not have those luxuries and had to find creative ways to make sure that their subjects stayed loyal to them and their empires. A lot of rulers chose to gain that loyalty by force, but other rulers chose to use art to persuade people to follow them instead of fear. “Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist (Sachant).” However, this is only the definition as it stands today. Back in those times, propaganda was just a way of communicating ideas and instructions to the community. Two rulers that used the power of art to persuade and to validate their authority are Darius I and Napoleon.

The first ruler I will discuss is Darius I. Darius I was the third king of the Achaemenid Empire and he ruled from 522-486 BCE. During his time of reign, he had the Apadana built. “Apadana means hypostyle hall, a stone building with a roof supported by columns. It originally had seventy-two columns—thirteen still stand—each sixty-two feet tall in a grand hall that was 200 x 200 feet, or 4,000 square feet (Sachant).” The Apadana was a massive, brightly colored building and naturally, it would draw the attention of people. It inspires amazement in some people and intimidated others. It was the Apadana and Persepolis, that was used as propaganda. Knowing that he would have to use persuasion to gain loyalty instead of fear like other ruler, Darius I made sure that he had methods of persuasion throughout the two. An example of this persuasion is the Staircase Reliefs. They show that Darius I respected his loyal subjects and would treat delegates from other countries with that same respect. He used those reliefs as well to convey that he was not interested using force to bend them to his will.

The second ruler that used the power of art to persuade and to validate their authority is Napoleon. Napoleon used propaganda to shape his image in the public eye and persuade the people of things like his heroism and strength. One such example of this was his use of paintings by the artist Jacques-Louis David. He commissioned the painting of him crossing the alps after his success at the Battle of Marengo. Instead of showing what really happened, he wanted the artist paint him sitting calmly on a rearing horse leading the way across the alps.

With the wind whipping his cloak around him, assuredly holding the reins of his wild-eyed horse in one hand while gesturing the way up and over the peaks with the other, and holding the viewer’s gaze with his look of complete composure, David has shown Napoleon as a leader who guides his people to victory and who will be remembered as a hero throughout the ages (Sachant).

As you can see, Napoleon used art to tell the story that he wanted to tell, and his use of this propaganda helped shaped the public views and trust in him as their leader.