Three Paintings Of Jacques Louis David

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Recommended: How french revolution effected artists

Jonathan Stephen Rogers
Professor Jenny Blount Tucker
ARH 253
April 11th, 2014
Jacques Louis David. Patriot, Martyr, Conciliator.
Jacques Louis David rose in popularity by inspiring the French Revolution with his Oath of the Horatii. David then found himself a leader in the Revolution after the martyr of his friend Marat. After all this David shifted his artistic style/narrative and promoted peace. What happened to David for his passion and politics to begin with instigation and later a pacifier? By discussing Jacques Louis David’s three paintings, Oath of the Horatii, The Death of Marat, and The Intervention of the Sabin Women, you will see the shift in his art and narrative.
David was born to a wealthy family in France and became passionate about art. After many attempts to win the Prix de Rome, David was awarded the scholarship in 1774 and moved to Rome to study art at the academy. The time spent here in Rome was a major influence on the subject matter of many David paintings. After returning home to France David was inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract where Rousseau appealed for a new form of governmental structure. The Oath of the Horatii, completed in 1784, became an inspiring painting for the Revolution as its narrative was a commitment for change. In this painting the Horatii brothers were willing to die for their country and raise their hand in an oath for Rome while their father uplifts their swords they will go and fight with. The women know this may be necessary but they display sadness at the thought of losing their loved ones. The painting displays a simplicity and stateliness that is a calling card for the Neoclassical period.
A few years later David was commissioned to commemorate the Tennis ...

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... narrative. The two main males are nude with Greek idealized figures. Even the women’s sexuality is more pronounced with open breast and idealized beauty of their womanhood. This is very different from The Oath of the Horatii the first work we discussed, where the soldiers are completely clothed and the women are in the background.
Jacques Louis David began his career as a patriot championing the start of a new Revolution and urging others to devote their lives unto death for their cause. His own friend gave his life for the Revolution and David memorialized him on canvas. However when the time came for David to commit his own life for the cause he desired peace. David when released from prison wished he never had left his studio. Because of David we have visualize and sympathize with the French Revolution from the viewpoint of patriots, martyrs, and conciliators.

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