Jacques-Louis David 

(French: [ʒaklwi david]; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a

French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the
era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away
from Rococo frivolity toward classical austerity and severity and heightened feeling,
[1] harmonizing with the moral climate of the final years of the Ancien Régime.

Jacques-Louis David

Self-portrait, 1794 (Musée du Louvre)

33rd President of the National Convention

In office
5 January 1794 – 20 January 1794

Preceded by Georges Auguste Couthon

Succeeded by Marc Guillaume Alexis Vadier

Personal details

Born 30 August 1748

Paris, Kingdom of France
 Died 29 December 1825 (aged 77)
Brussels, United Kingdom of the
Netherlands

Political The Mountain

party

Spouse(s) Marguerite Charlotte Pécoul

(m. 1782; div. 1793)

(m. 1796)

Alma mater Collège des Quatre-Nations, University of

Paris

Awards  Prix de Rome

 Commander of the Legion of
Honour

THE DEATH OF MARAT BY DAVID: ANALYSIS AND CURIOUS

FACTS
On July 13th 1793 the news of the death of Marat, a protagonist of the French Revolution, shocked France.
Marat was stabbed to death and his murderer, Charlotte Corday, four days after the assassination and after a
summary trial, was executed by guillotine.
In this post you’ll discover the history of a masterpiece that depicts one of the most tragic moments in the 18th-
century France.
The Death of Marat by David
WHY A PAINTING OF THE DEATH OF MARAT WAS PAINTED
Jacques-Louis David was the official painter of the French Revolution, and in 1792 was also elected as a Deputy
of the Convention, and aligned with the Jacobins, who represented the most radical political party during the French
Revolution.
So, it was almost automatic for him to be commissioned to execute a painting that would celebrate the Death of
Marat, which was considered as a martyrdom.
Marat was a leading figure of the French Revolution.
The Death of Marat was caused by a woman, Charlotte Corday, who believed that he was responsible for the more
radical course the Revolution had taken through his role as a journalist and a Jacobin deputy. The woman stabbed
Marat while he was immersed in his bathtub and David, one of the most important artists of the 18th century,
chose to portray the moment after the murder.

ANALYSIS OF THE DEATH OF MARAT BY DAVID

David did a painting that is the celebration of a martyr of the Revolution.
The room is bare and dark. There’s only Marat lying in the bathtub and few objects of a man who dedicated himself
to the good of the French citizens. Marat holds in his hands a pen and a paper his assassin had given him before
killing him. On the floor is the murder weapon.
There are a pen and an inkwell on a simple wood box that acts as a desk. On it David painted the inscription: À
MARAT, DAVID (TO MARAT, DAVID).
Marat’s pose, with his unmoving arm, draws inspiration from “The Entombment of Christ” by Caravaggio, housed
in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, in the Vatican City.

CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT THE DEATH OF MARAT BY DAVID

It may seem odd that the Death of Marat occurred while the hero of the French Revolution was in his bathtub.
However, it was not rare.
Marat suffered from a skin disease that obliged him to have long and everyday baths, during which he kept working
and meeting any kind of personalities.
There are three versions of this painting.
The first one hangs in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, the second is housed in Reims and
the third one is part of the  Louvre works.
David was a close friend of Marat and supported politically him on different occasions, especially when they had
to vote for the death of the King of France Louis XVI.
Bonaparte Crossing the Alps (sometimes called Napoleon Crossing the Alps, which is also the title
of Jacques-Louis David's better-known version of the subject) is a 1848–1850[2] oil painting by
French artist Paul Delaroche.[3][4] The painting depicts Napoleon Bonaparte leading his army
through the Alps on a mule,[I] a journey Napoleon and his army of soldiers made in the spring
of 1800[5] in an attempt to surprise the Austrian army in Italy.[6][7] Several versions of this
painting exist: in the Louvre- Lens and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England. Queen
Victoria owned a small version of it.[8]

The work was inspired by Jacques-Louis David's series of five paintings of Napoleon Crossing the
Alps (1801–1805), which present a glorified vision of Napoleon "calm on a spirited
horse"[9] rather than a mule, crossing Great St. Bernard Pass.

Oath of the Horatii, is a large painting by the French artist Jacques-Louis David painted in 1784 and
1785 and now on display in the Louvre in Paris. The painting immediately became a huge success
with critics and the public, and remains one of the best known paintings in the Neoclassical
style. Wikipedia

Artist: Jacques-Louis David

Dimensions: 3.26 m x 4.2 m

Created: 1784

Genre: History painting

Medium: Oil paint

Location: Louvre, Paris

J.-A.-D. Ingres, in full Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, (born August

29, 1780, Montauban, France—died January 14, 1867, Paris), painter and icon
of cultural conservatism in 19th-century France. Ingres became the principal
proponent of French Neoclassical painting after the death of his
mentor, Jacques-Louis David. His cool, meticulously drawn
works constituted the stylistic antithesis of the emotionalism and colourism of
the contemporary Romantic school. As a monumental history painter, Ingres
sought to perpetuate the Classical tradition of Raphael and Nicolas Poussin.
The spatial and anatomical distortions that characterize his portraits and
nudes, however, anticipate many of the most audacious formal experiments of
20th-century Modernism.
Also Known As Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Born August 29, 1780 • Montauban • France

Died January 14, 1867 (aged 86) • Paris • France

Awards And
Prix de Rome
Honors

Movement /
Neoclassical art
Style

Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne (French: Napoléon Ier sur le trône impérial) is an 1806 portrait
of Napoleon I of France in his coronation costume, painted by the French painter Jean-Auguste-
Dominique Ingres.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Artist

Year 1806

Medium oil on canvas

Dimensions 259 cm × 162 cm (102 in × 64 in)

Location Musée de l'Armée, Hôtel des

Invalides, Paris

The Apotheosis of Homer is a grand 1827 painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, now

exhibited at the Louvre as INV 5417. The symmetrical composition depicts Homer being crowned by
a winged figure personifying Victory or the Universe. Wikipedia

Artist: Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Dimensions: 3.86 m x 5.12 m

Genre: History painting

Medium: Oil paint

Created: 1826–1827

Location: Louvre, Paris

Support: Canvas

Antonio Canova (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔːnjo kaˈnɔːva]; 1 November 1757 – 13 October

1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor,[2][3] famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded
as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,[4] his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the
classical revival, and has been characterised as having avoided the melodramatics of the former,
and the cold artificiality of the latter.[5]

Antonio Canova

Self-portrait, 1792

Born Antonio Canova

 1 November 1757

Possagno, Republic of Venice

Died 13 October 1822 (aged 64)

Venice, Lombardy–Venetia

Nationality Republic of Venice (1757–1798)

Austria (territory ceded to Austria)
(1798–1805)[1]
Kingdom of Italy (1805–1814)
Austrian Empire (1814–1822)

Known for Sculpture

Notable work  Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss

 The Three Graces
 Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker
 Venus Victrix

Movement Neoclassicism

Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss is a sculpture by Italian artist Antonio Canova first commissioned in
1787 by Colonel John Campbell. It is regarded as a masterpiece of Neoclassical sculpture, but
shows the mythological lovers at a moment of great emotion, characteristic of the emerging
movement of Romanticism. Wikipedia

Artist: Antonio Canova

Dimensions: 1.55 m x 1.68 m

Location: Louvre Museum

Medium: Marble

Subject: Cupid

Created: 1793
George Washington was a life-size marble statue of George Washington, done in the style of a
Roman general, by the Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova. Wikipedia

Artist: Antonio Canova

Location: Raleigh, US

Year: 1820

Commissioned by: North Carolina

George Washington was a life-size marble statue of George Washington, done in the style of
a Roman general, by the Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova. Commissioned by
the State of North Carolina in 1815, it was completed in 1820 and installed in the rotunda of
the North Carolina State House on December 24, 1821. The building and the statue were
destroyed by fire on June 21, 1831. This work was the only one created by Canova for the United
States.

Bertel Thorvaldsen (Danish: [ˈpɛɐ̯tl̩ ˈtsʰɒːˌvælˀsn̩]; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was

a Danish and Icelandic sculptor and medalist of international fame,[1] who spent most of his life
(1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a working-class Danish/Icelandic
family, and was accepted to the Royal Danish Academy of Art at the age of eleven. Working
part-time with his father, who was a wood carver, Thorvaldsen won many honors and medals at
the academy. He was awarded a stipend to travel to Rome and continue his education.

Portrait by Carl Joseph Begas, ca. 1820

Born Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen

19 November 1770

Copenhagen, Denmark

Died 24 March 1844 (aged 73)

Copenhagen, Denmark

Known for Sculpting

In Rome, Thorvaldsen made a name for himself as a sculptor. Maintaining a large

workshop in the city, he worked in a heroic neo-classicist style. His patrons resided all
over Europe.[2]
Upon his return to Denmark in 1838, Thorvaldsen was received as a national hero.
The Thorvaldsen Museum was erected to house his works next to Christiansborg Palace.
Thorvaldsen is buried within the courtyard of the museum. In his time, he was seen as
the successor of master sculptor Antonio Canova. Among his more famous public
monuments are the statues of Nicolaus Copernicus and Józef Poniatowski in Warsaw; the
statue of Maximilian I in Munich; and the tomb monument of Pope Pius VII, the only
work by a non-Catholic in St. Peter's Basilica.

Christus is an 1833 white Carrara marble statue of the resurrected Jesus Christ by Bertel
Thorvaldsen located in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was commissioned as
part of a larger group, which includes 11 of the original 12 apostles and Paul the Apostle. It has been
widely reproduced. Wikipedia

Artist: Bertel Thorvaldsen

The Lion Monument (German: Löwendenkmal), or the Lion of Lucerne, is a rock

relief in Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas
Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French
Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. It is one of the most
famous monuments in Switzerland, visited annually by about 1.4 million tourists. [1] In 2006, it
was placed under Swiss monument protection.[2]

47°03′30″N 8°18′38″E
Coordinates

Location Lucerne, Switzerland

Designer Bertel Thorvaldsen

Type Memorial

Material Sandstone

Beginning date 1820

Completion date 1821
American humorist and author Samuel Clements (Mark Twain) praised the sculpture of a
mortally wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the
world."[3]

The Panthéon is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin
Quarter, atop the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, in the centre of the Place du Panthéon, which was
named after it. Wikipedia

Architects: Jacques-Germain Soufflot, Jean-Baptiste Rondelet

Opened: 1790

Construction started: 1764

Function: Monument

Height: 83 m

Burials: Simone Veil, Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, Jean Moulin, Jacques-Germain

Soufflot, Voltaire, More

The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the
Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and
most comprehensive in existence. It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to
the present. Wikipedia

GOOGLE ARTS & CULTURE

A virtual tour

Architectural style: Greek Revival architecture

Founded: 1753

Director: Hartwig Fischer

Area: 807,000 sq ft (75,000 m2) in; 94 galleries

Chair: George Osborne

Visitors: 1,327,120 (2021) (up 42 percent from 2020): Ranked third nationally

The Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, or less formally, La Madeleine is a Catholic parish church on
Place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It was planned by Louis XV as the focal
point of the new Rue Royal, leading to the new Place Louis XV, the present Place de la
Concorde. Wikipedia

Architectural style: Neoclassical architecture

Architects: Pierre-Alexandre Vignon, Pierre Contant d'Ivry, Jacques-Marie Huvé, Guillaume-Martin

Couture

Opened: July 24, 1842

Function: Church, Parish church

Founder(s): Napoleon (1807)

Burials: Pierre Contant d'Ivry, Jules-Claude Ziegler, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Louis Aubert, More

The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It

is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of
every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.[3] The term "White House" is often used as
a metonym for the president and his advisers.

Neoclassical, Palladian
Architectural
style

Address 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500
U.S.

Coordinates 38°53′52″N 77°02′11″W

Current tenants Joe Biden, President of the United

States and the First Family

Construction October 13, 1792; 230 years ago

 started

Completed November 1, 1800; 222 years ago[1]

Technical details

Floor area 55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2)

Design and construction

Architect(s) James Hoban

About

Description
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the United
States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the
eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Wikipedia

Construction started: September 18, 1793

Architectural style: Neoclassical architecture

Architects: Brett Blanton, Stephen T. Ayers, William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles

Bulfinch, More

Floors: 3

Opened: November 17, 1800

Function: Museum, Office

Sainte-Geneviève Library is a public and university library located at 10, place du Panthéon, across
the square from the Panthéon, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. It is based on the collection of the
Abbey of St Genevieve, which was founded in the 6th century by Clovis I, the King of the
Franks. Wikipedia

Architect: Henri Labrouste
Construction started: 1838

Opened: 1851

Sainte-Geneviève Library is a public and university library located at 10, place du Panthéon, across
the square from the Panthéon, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. It is based on the collection of the
Abbey of St Genevieve, which was founded in the 6th century by Clovis I, the King of the
Franks. Wikipedia

Architect: Henri Labrouste

Construction started: 1838

Opened: 1851

The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts,

founded in 1848.[4] The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the
Commonwealth[5] (formerly library of last recourse)[6] of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts;
all adult residents of the commonwealth are entitled to borrowing and research privileges, and
the library receives state funding. The Boston Public Library contains approximately 24 million
items,[7] making it the third-largest public library in the United States behind the federal Library
of Congress and the New York Public Library, which is also privately endowed. In fiscal year
2014, the library held more than 10,000 programs, all free to the public, and lent 3.7 million
materials.[8]

United States
Country

Type Public

Established 1852

Location Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

Coordinates 42°20′57.55″N 71°4′41.78″W

Branches 24

Collection
 Size 24,079,520

Access and use

Circulation 3.69 million (FY 2013)

Population 6,547,629
served

Other information

Budget $31.2 million, plus $8.2 million from

trust fund (2013)[1]

Director David Leonard, President[2]

Robert E. Gallery, Chairman of the
Board[3]

Affiliation Boston Library Consortium

Website bpl.org