Bonaparte Before the Sphinx

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/bonaparte-before-the-sphinx

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the artwork title?Bonaparte Before the Sphinx (French: Bonaparte devant le Sphinx)
2. What is the alternative title?Œdipe (Oedipus)
3. Who is the main person in the painting "Bonaparte Before the Sphinx"?The painting shows Napoleon Bonaparte, the famous French general, riding a horse in front of the Great Sphinx.
4. Why is the Great Sphinx important in the painting?The Sphinx is shown very big to show how huge and ancient Egypt is, and it reminds us that Napoleon was meeting a very old and powerful monument.

Academic Art: A style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art.
Orientalism: The depiction of aspects of the non-Western world, particularly the Middle East and North Africa, in a manner that is exotic and often stereotypical.
Mythological Allusion: A reference to a well-known myth or legend within a work of art or literature.
Salon of 1886: A prestigious annual art exhibition in Paris that served as a primary venue for artists to gain recognition.