In 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte's troops tore Paolo Veronese's Wedding Feast at Cana from a wall of the Venetian monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore. Painted in 1563, this massive painting had long been considered a masterpiece, and the future emperor used it as part of his efforts to establish the Louvre. While telling the larger story of Napoleon's looting of Italian art, Cynthia Saltzman reveals the contradictions of his character: his thirst for greatness—to carry forward the finest aspects of civilization—and his ruthlessness in getting whatever he sought.