1748 -1825 · Paris, Rome, Revolution, Empire and Brussels

Ancient heroes, revolutionary martyrs and imperial ceremonies give Jacques-Louis David a monumental work where neoclassical rigor becomes political, moral and emotional language.

Jacques-Louis David was born in Paris in 1748. Trained with Joseph-Marie Vien, he won the Prix de Rome in 1774 after several attempts and stayed in Italy from 1775 to 1780. The study of Antiquity, Raphael and Bolognese painting takes him away from Rococo taste. On his return, he imposed a history painting based on the clarity of action, the firmness of the drawing and the moral value of the gesture. Received at the Royal Academy in 1783 with The Pain of Andromache, he painted in Rome The Oath of the Horaces, presented in 1785. The three brothers stretched out their arms towards their father's swords in Rome, presented in 1785. The three brothers stretched out their arms towards the swords of their father in Rome. presented in 1785. The three brothers stretched out their arms towards the swords of their father in Rome, presented in 1785. The three brothers stretched out their arms towards the swords of their father in Rome, presented in 1785. The three brothers stretched out their arms towards the swords of their father in Rome, presented in 1785. The three brothers stretched out their arms towards the swords of their father in Rome, presented in 1785. The three brothers stretched out their arms towards the swords of their father in Rome, presented in 17 separate and the tension of the lines make the painting a manifesto of neoclassicism. David actively participates in the French Revolution. Member of the Convention, organizer of civic festivals and close to Robespierre, he transforms current events into images of memory. The Death of Marat, painted in 1793, strips the assassination of all tumult: bathtub, letter and light compose a political pietà of striking sobriety. After the fall of Robespierre and his imprisonments, David redirects his career. Bonaparte then Napoleon offer him a new language of power. After the fall of Robespierre and his imprisonments, David redirects his career. Bonaparte then Napoleon offer him a new language of power. After the fall of Robespierre and his imprisonments, David redirects his career. Bonaparte then Napoleon offer him a new language of power. After the fall of Robespierre and his imprisonments, David redirects his career. Bonaparte then Napoleon offer him a new language of power. Bonaparte crossing Great Saint Bernard converts his career into a military crossing into a heroic ascent; The Rite of Napoleon brings together portraits, architecture and ceremony in a very large format official scene. David never gave up portraiture, where psychological presence tempered the discipline of drawing. After the fall of the Empire, his vote for the death of Louis XVI forced him to go into exile in Brussels in 1816. He continued portraits and mythological subjects there until his death in 1825. His workshop formed several generations, from Gros and Girodet to Gérard and Ingres, making his work one of the foundations of 19th century European painting. The "Jacques-Louis David" selection notably compares The Oath of the Horatii and The Death of Marat. His reading favors space.

David gives the gesture the force of an oath: each line chooses, each silence judges and each figure transforms the story into a present decision.