Napoleon Bonaparte receiving the keys of Vienna at the Schloss Schönbrunn, 13th November 1805

Anne-Louis Girodet's Napoleon Receiving the Keys of Vienna of 1808 depicts the ceremonial presentation of the Austrian capital's submission following the Battle of Austerlitz, translating a diplomatic moment into an image of imperial dignity. The painting served the Napoleonic visual program of documenting the Empire's military and diplomatic triumphs with ceremonial grandeur. Girodet's approach to Napoleonic subjects combined his academic training under David with the Romantic sensibility that made his literary subjects so distinctive, bringing both qualities to the documentation of imperial occasion.

Girodet renders the palatial interior of Schönbrunn with careful architectural detail and precise rendering of military and diplomatic costume. The formal, symmetrical composition emphasizes the ceremonial nature of the surrender.