Why Napoleon’s ‘theft and vandalism’ served the public good Two new books about Napoleon sideline his military achievements to present him as a gardener – and an art thief 5 May 2021 • 5:17pm Detail of Antoine-Jean Gros's 1796 portrait Bonaparte at the Pont d’Arcole Credit: Fine Art Images/Diomedia Images From time immemorial, victorious warriors have come home laden with booty. Ancient Rome institutionalised this in the triumph, and the French Revolution legitimised it according to the rationale of the day: since Paris was the cradle of what was to be a new universe, it should, for the benefit of mankind, gather to itself the fruits of all the arts and sciences.