Jacques-Louis David in The French Revolution

        In the 18^th century the people of France faced starvation due to the massive amount of debt the country faced as a result of expenses from the American Revolutionary War and the lavish expenditure of the French court. The common people clamored for change and, as a response, King Louis XVI called together a session of the Estate General, which was the French parliament. The common people of France, named the Third Estate, outnumbered the First Estate (the clergy) and the Second Estate (the nobles) by several million, but they could not convince the First and Second Estate to reach a solution to the nation’s problems that didn’t make things harder for the commons people. Furious at this stalemate, the Third Estate withdrew from the Estate General and formed the National Assembly in order to establish a new constitution for the nation that benefitted all the people of France, not just the aristocracy. This new constitution would establish the true country of France that wasn’t ruled by the aristocracy.

        The existence of the National Assembly caused strife in France between the common people and the aristocracy and this conflict led to their cause being named The French Revolution. In order to garner support for themselves, or, as they called themselves, the patriots, the National Assembly employed several artists to create propaganda pieces for the public. The most famous of these propaganda artists was Jacques-Louis David, who was known to use the neoclassical form of using classical images and allegories to convey feelings of bravery, patriotism, and self-sacrifice. As a radical advocate for the National Assembly, David created several works that became widespread propaganda pieces during this time period.

Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates, 1787, oil on canvas, 31.45

This piece was one of David’s earlier works and was a commissioned piece in which David encouraged and suggested the subject matter. In it, David shows the moment before the philosopher Socrates drinks poisonous hemlock in an ordered suicide by the city officials who believed that he was corrupting the minds of Greek youths. By choosing a well-known classical act of bravery, David likens the philosophic heroism of Socrates to the patriotic heroism valued during the Revolution. 

Jacques-Louis David, The Tennis Court Oath, 20^th June 1789, 1791, pen on paper, Château de Versailles

This drawing study is a fictional recreation of a historically patriotic scene where the Third Estate swears the oath that they will not disperse until a new constitution for the nation was established. This artwork was sponsored by the radical political party called the Jacobin Club, in which David himself belonged to. It was to eventually be engraved and mass reproduced as widespread propaganda. However, due to the fast pace course of the Revolution, David never finished the painting that this study was done for.

Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793, oil on canvas, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and Antwerp

During the Revolution, artists were fascinated with the subject of death and how it applied to both enemies and good patriots. One way to invoke the public’s rage over death is to paint graphic representations of the cruel ends to martyrs. This painting shows the murder of a French revolutionary leader, Jean-Paul Marat, who died at the hands of Charlotte Corday, a noble woman against the radical actions of the Revolution. David’s painting was a clear statement at that time to “fight or die, kill or be killed”. 

Jacques-Louis David, Lictors Bearing to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, 1789, oil on canvas, Louvre

This is a Neoclassical painting of David where he shows Lucius Junius Brutus, founder of the Roman Republic, contemplating the fate of his sons. They had sought to overthrow the republic and restore the monarchy and Brutus was, therefore, compelled to condemned them to death. In doing this, he became the heroic defender of the republic and also lost his own family. This painting was a bold allegory of civic virtue with vast resonance for the growing cause of republicanism in the French Revolution. The themes of virtue, sacrifice, and devotion to one’s nation sparked patriotism in supporters of the Revolution. 

Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of Horatii, 1784, oil on canvas, Louvre

This painting by David is considered, by scholars, to be the epitome of Neoclassical art and increased David’s fame even more during Revolution times. The scene depicted stresses the importance of patriotism and masculine self-sacrifice for one’s country by showing three Roman brothers, the Horatii, saluting their father before they go to fight the Curiatii in hopes of ending a war. The women grieving is because they are all connected in some way to both the Horatii and the Curiatii and know that they will have personal loss, but this must be done for the good of the nation. 

Jacques-Louis David, The Pain of Andromache, 1783, oil on canvas, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts

This is a classical image from Homer’s Illiad, in which Andromache mourns for her husband, Hector, the hero of Troy, who was killed by the Greek hero, Achilles. David paints Hector with a noble air to emphasize the nobility of a hero’s death and matches it with the nobility found in Andromache as she has not collapsed in grief from her husband’s death. David does this in order to highlight the values of self-sacrifice and the subordination of the family that were encouraged during the Revolution.

References

Lee, Simon. David. Art & Ideas. London: Phaidon, 1999