One of the most influential artists of his era, Jacques-Louis David helped define neoclassicism. David worked mostly in the genre of history painting, emphasising clarity, order and moral virtue in his works. His style became synonymous with the ideals of the French Revolution and later the Napoleonic Empire.
Born in Paris, in 1748, David came of age during a period when the fashion for Rococo was giving way to a more classical style. He first came under the tutelage of leading Rococo painter François Boucher, who introduced David to history painter Joseph-Marie Vien, whose interest in the ancient Roman paintings would heavily influence David’s aesthetic.
The young painter later attended the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, where he was astounded by works of classical antiquity and the Renaissance. This influence is evident in David neoclassical paintings, which often feature dramatic, heroic subjects rendered with clean lines and strong forms. His breakthrough work, The Death of Socrates (1787), is a tremendous study of composition and inventive use of colour to highlight emotions portrayed in the painting.
David was an absolute partisan of the French Revolution and a supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte. The painter commemorated the events of 1789 and memoralised Napoleon in masterpieces from the Oath of the Tennis Court (1971; Musée national du Château de Versailles) and The Death of Marat (1793; Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels), to Bonaparte Crossing the Great St. Bernard (1801) and The Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine (1805–07; Louvre, Paris).
Having remained loyal to Bonaparte, David was forced into exile after Napoleon’s final disgrace and the Bourbons’ return to power in 1815. In January 1816, following the passage of a law against regicides, David left for Brussels where he would remain for the rest of his life.
Jacques-Louis David Paris 1748-1825 Brussles
Portrait of Ramel de Nogaret
Jacques-Louis David (Paris 1748-1825 Brussels)
The Distribution of the Eagle Standards
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (PARIS 1748-1825 BRUXELLES)
Portrait d'homme de profil
Jacques-Louis David (Paris 1748-1825 Brussels)
Portrait of Mademoiselle Guimard as Terpsichore
Jacques-Louis David (Paris 1748-1825 Brussels)
Portrait of Michel-Jean Sedaine
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (PARIS 1748-1825 BRUXELLES) ET ATELIER
Etude pour le Serment du Jeu de Paume
Jacques-Louis David (Paris 1748-1825 Brussels)
Alexander ordering the books of Homer to be preserved ( recto ); Study of a triumphal procession with a subsidiary study of the figure of Alexander ( verso )
ATELIER DE JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID
Trois soldats nus casqués avec épées et boucliers
Jacques-Louis David (Paris 1748-1825 Brussels)
Pope Pius VII, in profile, bust length
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (PARIS 1748-1825 BRUXELLES)
Portrait d'Ignace-Eugène-Marie Degotti
CIRCLE OF JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (PARIS 1748-1825 BRUSSELS)
Achilles mourning the death of Patroclus
ATTRIBUTED TO JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (PARIS 1748-1825 BRUSSELS)
Study of a woman
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (PARIS 1748-1825 BRUSSELS)
The Marriage of Jason and Medea (recto); Composition study of an antique scene (verso)
Jacques-Louis David (Paris 1748-1825 Brussels)
Portrait of a young woman in a veil, bust-length, her head inclined to the left
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (PARIS 1748-1825 BRUSSELS)
A Roman imperial throne
After Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748-1825)
Napoleon in his study in the Tuileries Palace, a detail
Jacques-Louis David (Paris 1748-1825 Brussels)
Study of a young woman, full length, seen in profile, wearing a veil and carrying a muff; and Another study of the same figure
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (PARIS 1748-1825 BRUXELLES)
Une amazone et un guerrier
Circle of Jacques-Louis David (FRENCH, 1748-1825)
La belle artiste
Follower of George Romney
Head study of a gentleman, unfinished
Follower of Jacques-Louis David
Portrait of a lady, bust-length, in a green velvet dress
ATELIER DE JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID
Trois soldats en armure avec épées et boucliers