The first artist I'd like to spotlight from my whirlwind trip is Jacques Louis David. I had the chance to visit the Louvre in Paris where, in addition to the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and many other famous works, houses many pieces by David. For those who aren't familiar with David, he was a highly sought after French painter in nineteenth century France. He is arguably one of the most well-known Neoclassical painters but probably best known for his paintings of and for Napoleon I... yes, that Napoleon.
[image http://www.jacqueslouisdavid.org/]
Seeing this painting first-hand was amazing. Not only do I remember studying every little nook and cranny of this masterpiece during high school and college art classes, it's also my mother's favorite painting so it has a very special personal meaning for me.
The subject of the painting is also very interesting. Napoleon, being the modest man that he was, declared that he was the new Roman emperor and leader of all of Europe. The pope traveled to Paris to confirm Napoleon's new position. While David wanted to paint an accurate representation of the event, you'll notice that he has Napoleon crowning his wife, Josephine de Beauharnais, rather than Napoleon receiving the crown from the pope. That's because Napoleon wasn't actually crowned by the pope - scandalous! Napoleon didn't want to be subjected to an allegiance to the pope or Catholic church, so in reality he took the crown and crowned himself. David didn't want to paint this disrespectful action, so instead he painted the lesser coronation of the empress.
Just around the corner in the Louvre was my second favorite painting from David, the Oath of the Horatii. You may recognize it from your old high school art class because it's basically required by all teachers and professors to study its style, elements and themes. But again, look at the size of the painting - it's huge! While very beautiful, the story behind this painting is probably the most fascinating aspect about it.
The painting depicts three members of the Roman Horatii family. According to the story, the three Romans had been chosen for a ritual duel against three members of the rival Curiatii family in order to settle disputes between the families' two cities. The painting depicts the three brothers of the Horatii family swearing allegiance to Rome in front of their father.
This was a very important scene at a very tumultuous time - it was just five years before the French Revolution but people could sense a major change coming. The scene, similar to many other paintings created during this time, urges loyalty to the country rather than family, church or other special interest groups. Because of this, Oath of the Horatii became a defining image for the revolutionaries and democracy.
