Wiley’s version of the original ‘Napoleon leading his army over the alps’ challenges the historic values and stereotypes that the painting represented back in 1801 by taking a modern twist and changing the figure sitting on the horse. Wiley is known for incorporating pieces of black culture into his paintings and contrasting the masculine energy with a feminine background. In the original painting, stereotypes that society believed or held are shown through the use of iconography, composition and colour, many of which Wiley contradicts in his version. Napoleon is seen dressed in a luxurious officer uniform and is covered head to toe in the French flag colours, symbolising the nationalisation and pride he held towards his country. Not only that, but it is also a symbol of power and dominance that all males back then had to have. A widely held societal belief that to be masculine was to be dominant and powerful, which is why he is draped in the colour red, indicating violence and danger. Yet in Wiley’s recreation, he chooses the colour gold instead to embody the masculinity of the black male but to also express the feminine and softer side of him. 

The figure in the painting is dressed in modern military clothes and has several pieces of accessories with a noticeable brand, contrasting the regal traditional uniform Napoleon is seen in. By doing this, Wiley fuses the two periods of time together to conclude the wars that they used to face two hundred years ago and the wars that the black society has to face two hundred years later are more or less similar and that as a society we are still struggling to accept each other. As mentioned before, Wiley is known for representing black culture in his paintings and this is evident in the way that the male sitter is dressed in. These clothes that the black male has is not only symbolic of the fights that black society stands against but is also a literal representation of black identity and how black males are dressed in the 21st century. This is important as in the past, paintings and portraits have usually consisted of white males, allowing black identity to be suppressed and by adding black culture into his paintings, Wiley is choosing who to represent, effectively giving black society power to speak up. 

Lastly, Wiley chooses to remain the position of the sitter the same as Napoleon’s, exhibiting the traditional masculine form that is seen as powerful from a long time ago, but changes the background of his painting, which in return changes his meaning of power and masculinity. The background of the painting resembles a kind of interior design wallpaper that is expertly blended into the foreground which also contains sperm in it, expressing Wiley’s belief of masculinity that it has to be balanced between dominant (which is traditional) between soft and gentle (representing more modern times). He once again fuses the beliefs that society held two hundred years about males to the more modernised thinking that society is moving to accept now.