![Antoine-Jean Gros - Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Stricken in Jaffa [1804]](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5593/14780540210_9c3643f3b8_o.jpg)
The scene shows Napoleon during a striking scene which occurred in Jaffa in 1799. It was an attempt to quell unsavoury rumours after Napoleon ordered that fifty incurable plague victims in Jaffa be poisoned (without complete success) during his retreat from his Syrian expedition. A longstanding question concerning the interpretation of the painting is the significance of the number 32 on the hat of one of the patients. Since Gros, the artist, was 32 years old at the time at the composition, the shy, naked prisoner may in fact be a hidden self-portrait.
[Musée du Louvre, Paris - Oil on canvas, 532 x 720 cm]