Famous Paintings: Jacques-Louis David
Posted by Susan Benford
The famous paintings of Jacques-Louis David (1748 - 1825) epitomize the loftiest aspirations of famous artwork... and their least savory uses as blatant political propaganda. David came of age during the era of King Louis XV and the Rococco style. Although David initially emulated the style of his distant relative, Francois Boucher, David's teacher, Joseph-Marie Vien, encouraged him to study classical art instead.
Self Portrait. Oil on canvas, 1794. Approximately 31" x 25". Louvre.
With the spread of the Enlightenment and its call for individual rights, the excesses and frivolity of the Rococo - and the insular power of the French monarchy - grew increasingly unpopular. As a proponent of classical art, David rejected the "artificial taste" of the Rococo style, opting instead to pioneer the Neoclassical style.
His famous artwork remains an unparalleled visual chronicle of the French Revolution, including the reign and fall of Napoleon I. David was an active revolutionary who belonged to the Jacobins and voted for the execution of Louis XVI, who had been one of David's patrons. These "egalitarian democrats", under the leadership of Robespierre, dominated the Assembly during the Reign of Terror (1793-94), when 40,000 people were executed for allegedly resisting the Revolution. It is in this political climate - and David's intimacy with it - that he created his world famous paintings.
In the Death of Socrates, David glorifies the individual as a self-sacrificing hero committed to country and family.
Oil on canvas, 1787. 4' 3" x 6' 5 1/4. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The resulting painting is a unique Neoclassical masterpiece and manifesto. The hero, Socrates, was accused by the Athenian government of corruptly educating its youth. As recounted by Plato in "The Apology", Socrates was given the choice between permanent exile or death by forced drinking of hemlock, a poison. True to his principles, Socrates opted for death. In Death of Socrates, he is shown passionately discussing the soul's immortality with his mourning disciples, teaching to the final end. Socrates points with his left hand, perhaps suggesting a higher
School of Athens (Philosophy). Fresco, 1509-1511. Approximately 19' x 27'. Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican, Rome.
truth but unquestioningly referencing the portrayal of Plato in Raphael's famous painting, School of Athens.
David painted Death of Marat five years later in 1793, the year in which Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were beheaded by the guillotine. This famous artwork - in my book, the finest painting of political martyrdom in
Oil on canvas, 1793. 65" x 50 1/2". Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels.
the Western history of painting - is loaded with history and subtle symbolism. Marat suffered from a skin ailment which was soothed only by soaking in the bathtub. It was here that Charlotte Corday, a supporter of the conservative, Girondin group, found Marat and stabbed him to death. The kitchen knife she used is beside the tub in an ironic contrast with Marat's quill, juxtaposing violence with the power of the pen. Marat grasps the letter of introduction by which Corday gained access to him. The shabby wooden crate, intimating Marat's simple lifestyle, bears a personal and political message: the painting is dedicated "A Marat, David" (To Marat, from David) and is dated "L'An Deux" (The Year Two, or the second year of the French Revolution). The composition is one from classical art: Marat's pose is evocative of devotional paintings of a dead Christ.
Although David's personal, artistic and political fortunes were under siege during the Revolution, he became allied with Napoleon Bonaparte. Appointed as the court painter, David used his considerable talents to promote Napoleon's new regime, portraying him as a hero in artwork such as Napoleon at Saint Bernard Pass. Here, David captures Napoleon in the tradition of Roman equestrian portraiture. Napoleon, attired in full military regalia, points
Oil on canvas, 1800. 8' x 7' 7". Musee National du Chateau de Versailles.
to the summit of the mountain (or perhaps to Socrates' higher power). Courtesy of David, Napoleon is linked to some of history's most exalted rulers by the inscriptions "KAROLUS MAGNUS", or Charlemagne, and "ANNIBAL" engraved in stone in the left foreground under "BONAPARTE".
Less anyone doubt the intended propagandistic nature of this famous painting... history records that Napoleon crossed the Alps by mule!
Love the history of painting? Look at Masterpiece Cards, art history flash cards of famous paintings created from the Renaissance to the early 1960s. See a sample art history flash card!