By Sabrina Fay
When the name "Napoleon Bonaparte" is uttered, a great many images are brought to mind. The great conqueror atop a wild-eyed steed, the brilliant military mind poring over maps and stratagem, the arrogant emperor crowning himself...and the strange position he held in a large number of his portraits.
Image via Reader's Digest Australia
For longer than anyone cares to count, historians and aficionados alike have been baffled by the painted Napoleon's tendency to hide his hand in his waistcoat. Why could this be, and what could it mean? A great many theories have accumulated over the years, both feasible and outlandish, all of which offer a lot of fun in their ponderance!
With the gaps in information often left by concerns of history being what they are, many of the theories about Napoleon's hidden hand are based on little more than conjecture. It has been said that he hid his hand within the fabric of his clothing because the fibers irritated his skin and brought him discomfort. Another perspective holds that he was cradling his stomach to calm it, perhaps showing the early signs of a cancer that would kill him later in life. Yet another theory even proclaims that Napoleon hid his hand because it had been deformed in battle! This explanation is easily trounced by the other paintings showing his hand intact however, and the lack of historical records to support it.
This imperious conqueror looks to have both his hands in typical form, though the cape is rather impractical. Image via Fine Art America
No, it would seem that the truth behind this mystery is far less scandalous. The fact is, Napoleon and his portraiter were following a fad. The "hand-in-coat" pose appeared often in reliefs depicting Ancient Romans as the go-to for orators (all according to Arline Meyer's eye-opening article, "Re-dressing Classical Statuary: The Eighteenth-Century "Hand-in-Waistcoat" Portrait"). It supposedly gave them an air of refinement and boldness, two traits most definitely attractive to emperors like Napoleon. The pose resurged in popularity during the 18th century and even became such a staple that artists who relied on it were accused of not knowing how to paint hands! Given its notoriety, it probably makes a lot more sense that Napoleon would choose to be painted hand-in-coat. But, then again, it wasn't actually his decision! The portrait that cemented Napoleon's hidden hand, Napoleon in his Study by Jaques-Louis David, was one he didn't even sit for but was rather commissioned by a nobleman.
Ultimately, it cannot be definitively said that Napoleon was a victim of itchy clothing, of a power tool accident, or the early onset of an illness that would not claim him until much later. Rather, in the case of the hidden hand, he was merely a victim of circumstance, and perhaps a victim of fashion.
Napoleon in his Study, 1812 painting. Image via National Gallery of Art