David’s Oath of the Horatii :: Art Analysis History

Davids Oath of the HoratiiPainted in Rome in the style of Neo-Classicism, Jacques Louis Davids Oath of the Horatii is one of the better-known examples of art produced by this artist of eclectic styles. This painting was hailed as the pronunciamento of a new school based on the fervent ask of the antique and a return to classical techniques in the late eighteenth century. In this painting, completed in 1785 as an oil on canvas, David (DA-VEED) successfully coalesces the nascent and confused ideology of the Neo-Classical movement in a salient portrayal of the Horatii brothers swearing their allegiance to the state as their father stands with swords held gamy for them to grasp. An analysis of the paintings historical background, and an evaluation of the lines, colors, and subject matter, impart illustrate why Oath of the Horatii represents the defining characteristics of the Neo-Classical period.David enrolled in the Acadmie Royal in 1766, when he was eighteen. In 1769 he compe ted for the prototypic time in the Prix de Rome, and lost. It was not until his fifth attempt in 1774 that he finally won with his Antiochus and Stratonice. The honorary society maintained a branch in Rome and winners of the Prix were sent at that place on a fellowship to continue their studies. David returned to France in 1779 as a well-skilledif not yet well-knownartist and was able to display somewhat work in the Salon. Over the next five years he gained notice as a supreme draftsman in studio apartment nudes and as a man able to project classicism alike(p) to Poussin. His work also appealed to the didactic philosophers of the Age of Reason. (Harber, 2)In 1784 David received a commission from the Comte dAngiviller (the head supervisor of all build and social organization under the King of France, Louis XVI) for a painting based on a Corneillian subject. Corneilles play, Horace, was being performed in Paris at this time. Oath of the Horatii was started in Paris, but Da vid felt he needed to be immersed in the ambience and culture of Rome to complete it. The painting created a sensation when first exhibited in Rome of 1885, and was seen as an allegorical cry for a mutation in France. Indeed, it was only four more years until the French renewing was underway. The painting is now kept in the Louvre, Paris.