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Self-portrait with Two Pupils, by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1785
The two pupils are Marie Capet and Carreaux de Rosemond.
Rococo
She depicts herself at work in her atelier, palette in hand, box of paints to her right, a porte-crayon and a scroll of paper or canvas on the stool in the foreground. Her beautiful dress and beribboned straw hat are rich in color and complex in execution; she describes the reflection of the blue fabric in the parquet at her feet. Likewise, the inclusion of her pupils offers Labille-Guiard the opportunity to wrestle with the complexities of composition. Their relationship and the fall of light over their faces show her skill as a painter. |
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Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, The Return of Marcus Sextus, 1799
Neoclassical
In this painting Guérin gave a theatrical depiction of a tragical historical (although invented) subject. Sextus, returned from exile, is seated in a stoical pose beside the deathbed of his wife. His fixed gaze reflects his inner questioning of the meaning of life. The scene is of heathen times, but it makes concealed use of the old Christian iconography. The cruciform in which the grieving man and the dead woman are so strikingly composed underlays the painting with an additional metaphorical significance, and the position of the daughter, who is clinging to her father's knee in pain, recalls the old Mary Magdalen motif in Christian art. |
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Théodore Géricault, The Wounded Heavy Cavalryman, 1814
Romanticism
During the Napoleonic era (1799–1814), war became an ever-present spectacle in Europe. For Géricault, such subject matter proved irresistible, particularly the combination of powerful horses and glittering uniforms. In this final study for an 1814 Salon entry, Géricault makes a significant departure from the academic standard for battle paintings by concentrating on the ambiguous actions of a single, anonymous soldier (who mysteriously lacks a visible wound, despite the work’s title) and his stumbling mount rather than the precise maneuvers of a corps or the bravery of famous generals. In the wake of Napoleon’s fall from power a few months before the opening of the Salon, the massive finished work (more than ten feet high) stood as an unpleasant reminder of France’s recent defeats and the folly of the Napoleonic enterprise. |
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Jacques-Louis David, The Sabine Women, 1799
Neoclassical
The theme of the picture is reconciliation. After the excesses of the reign of Terror, this was an appealing idea, and historians are fond of claiming the picture as a tribute to his wife. But the most striking thing about this painting is that the warriors are nude. David was inspired by the idea that the Greeks had represented their gods, athletes, and heroes in the nude. Unlike Michelangelo, David did not seek to glorify masculine beauty, but rather to endow his heroes with a superior quality that, ultimately, was more moral than physical. With the exception of Romulus, these nude bodies are not particularly muscular. David wanted to refine, to strip away anything that was unnecessary, to reduce everything to a supreme, heroic simplicity.
The element that we probably find most seductive about this painting today is the way in which David has projected and controlled the tumultuous movement of all the figures, which he then brings to an abrupt halt. Hersilia and the other Sabine Women really seem to be bursting onto the scene, which they dominate. In contrast, the armies are only suggested, rather than represented, by a forest of lances, pikes, and standards; the leader of the cavalry puts his sword back in its sheath, the horses rear in a static, quivering motion; the two warriors who are about to clash are frozen in their attitudes, their furious precipitation arrested as they seem rooted to the spot. David has also tamed his colors. Of his earlier palette, he has retained only some of the vivid reds on the shoulder of Tatius, Romulus's helmet, and the robe of the woman behind Hersilia; elsewhere, the reds are shaded with brick-toned hues. Some yellows, not as bright as in earlier paintings, a bit of green on the old woman's robe, and a bit of blue near Tatius's foot recall the tones David had once preferred. In contrast, the nude bodies, the walls of Rome, the standards and the pikes, the horse's hide, and Hersilia's tunic make up a spectrum of clear bronzed tones under a slightly tinted sky. |
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Jacques-Louis David, The Lictors Returning to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons for Burial, 1789
Neoclassical
In 1789, for David to bring up such a subject was hotly controversial, and reveals how deeply committed the artist was to the new ideas and enlightement principals. Indeed, had the revolution not occurred, this picture would doubtlessly could never have been exhibitied publicly. But in the exciting days following the fall of the bastille, David's picture was seen as a republican manifesto, and greatly raised David's reputation.
The picture's influence was immedialy felt in other ways, including taste, fashion and even morals. "After it was exhibited," one commentator noted, "fashion returned to hair without p[owder and women adoptlked loose hair styles, soon to be followed by men.... Corsets were banished, as were high-heeled shoes and women got into the habit of replacing so-called court dresses by light and simple clothes, which were more elegant than sumptuous."
Artistically, David achieved his effect through an uncompromising clarity and a subordination of color to drawing. This economy of statement were in keeping with the new severity of taste, while his themes gave expression to the new cult of the civic virtues of stoical self-sacrifice, devotion to duty, honesty, and austerity. |
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Jacques-Louis David, Belisarius Begging Alms, 1781
Neoclassical
In this painting, Belisarius is begging for alms at the foot of a monument redolent of military triumph. The structure opens out onto a classical landscape dotted with tiny figures and shrubs, which forms a painting within the painting- evoking Poussin's landscapes of the Roman countryside, but in a more geometric and architectural way..
This is a strong and sober work, centered around four expressive figures. The woman is restraining her emotion; the faces of the child and the old man are admirably disposed in a contrapuntal and harmonious relationship. Beyond them, dumbstruck as he recognizes his former general in this beggar, a soldier throws up his arms. He stands there as erect as the colonnade, a ghost from the past. The theme is surely the awsome power of tyranny, but in typical neo-classical form, the faces are very noble--those of the woman, the child, and the old man are particularly beautiful--and personify different spiritual aspects of grandeur. The woman embodies delicacy, solicitude, and pity. The face of Belisarius exposes his suffering, which has been exacerbated by humiliation. Hennequin, David's young pupil, posed for the child's face, which is a cry of youth and entreaty |
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Benjamin West, Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of Germanicus, 1768
Neoclassical
New in content but only partially innovative in form. Based on a passage in the Annals, painting depicts the moment when Agrippina, the young wife of the Roman general Germanicus returns to Italy with the cremated remains of her husband. Commissioned by the archbishop of York, it is an exemplum virtutis model of virtue.) In honoring her husband, this good widow gives a positive moral example to her children. She is a heroine for traveling all the way to Syria to fetch the remains of her husband. The subject of this painting was taken from Roman history. Agrippina the Elder was a distinguished and prominent Roman woman of the first century AD. She was the wife of the general and statesman Germanicus and was granddaughter of Augustus, Rome's first emperor,.
The scene shows the widowed Agrippina returning to Rome carrying the ashes of her assassinated husband, Germanicus. She is accompanied by her two young children, Caligula, the future emperor, and Agrippina the Younger, who was to be the mother of the Emperor Nero. Agrippina has placed herself and her children in certain danger by returning to confront the Emperor Tiberius, who was widely believed to have instigated Germanicus's murder. Germanicus's popularity as a general, as well as his wife's legendary virtue, draws large crowds of sympathizers to greet her when she disembarks at Brundisium.
Painted for the Archbishop of York, this canvas led to King George III's lifelong patronage of West, despite the Pennsylvania-born artist's frank American patriotism. |
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Théodore Géricault, The Charging Light Cavalryman,1812
Romantic
The Charging Chasseur, or An Officer of the Imperial Horse Guards Charging is an oil painting on canvas of about 1812 by the French painter Théodore Géricault, portraying a mounted Napoleonic cavalry officer who is ready to attack. The painting represents French romanticism and has a motif similar to Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps, but non-classical characteristics of the picture include its dramatic diagonal arrangement and vigorous paint handling. In The Charging Chasseur, the horse appears to be rearing away from an unseen attacker. The painting was Géricault's first exhibited work. Géricault would continue to move away from classicism, as exemplified in his masterpiece The Raft of the Medusa |
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Jacques-Louis David, The Coronation of Napoleon in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, 1805
Neoclassical
David drew inspiration for the layout of his painting from Rubens's Coronation of Marie de Medici (in the Louvre). He witnessed the ceremony first-hand and had most of its participants pose for him, also reconstructing the scene in his purpose-built studio with cardboard models and wax figurines. He highlighted the protagonists by placing them in the center and illuminating them with a beam of light. The arcade provides an imposing frame for the imperial couple, also set off by the surrounding colorful congregation. The Pope sits to the right among cardinals and bishops. The great dignitaries of the Empire are shown in three-quarter back view in the right foreground, bearing symbols of imperial power: the eagle-topped scepter, the globe, and the hand of Justice. The Emperor's two brothers and two sisters are represented on the left, while Napoleon's mother looks down on the scene from her vantage point in the VIP gallery. All eyes are turned toward the crown, which the painter highlighted against a section of green curtain that overlaps the pilaster. The profile of the kneeling Joséphine—made to look younger for the occasion—stands out against the lovely yellow ocher of the cross-bearer’s cope, just in front of Marshal Murat, who is portrayed holding the coronation cushion. David used an exceptionally rich palette of colors to depict the velvets, furs, satins, and lamés of the costumes and furnishings. This painting—which is also a group portrait of the imperial family, the court, and the clergy dressed in ceremonial costume—is totally realistic in appearance. Yet David took certain liberties with history and protocol: he downsized the structure of Notre-Dame Cathedral to give the figures greater impact; on Napoleon’s orders, he included Letizia Bonaparte (“Madame Mère”) in his painting, although she had not attended the coronation ceremony, of which she disapproved; again on the Emperor’s instructions, he portrayed the Pope making a gesture of blessing, having originally represented him with his hands on his knees; and the Emperor’s sisters stand immobile, though they held the Empress's train at the ceremony itself.
These various artistic solutions, designed to suit this monumental painting and its fascinating hero, fully satisfied the Emperor: "What relief, what truthfulness! This is not a painting; one walks in this picture." David realized the significance of this work for the future and for his personal fame, saying "I shall slide into posterity in the shadow of my hero." |
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Anne-Louis Girodet, The Sleep of Endymion, 1791
Romanticism
Girodet, as he himself wrote, wanted to "do something new" in this work. A pupil of David, he chose a mythological love scene more likely to have fascinated a baroque or rococo painter then his master. There is nothing heroic or moral about this painting. Endymion is a character from a Greek myth later transformed into a Roman fable told by Lucian in his Dialogues of the Gods. Girodet based his picture not on the Greek myth, in which the shepherd is loved by Selene, but on the Roman fable. Endymion's body is suprisingly elongated, almost mannerist, and his pose is reminiscent of Correggio's mythological figures or certain baroque martyrs. He exudes a blend of sensuality and coldness. The picture's light is also very different to paintings by David and his pupils. The deep woodland shadows are traversed by a curiously blue-tinted shaft of light. The light on Endymion's body shows Girodet's taste for the bizarre: his moonlit torso is bathed in a vaporous effect evoking Leonardo da Vinci and Correggio, artists little appreciated at the time, except by Prud'hon. It is precisely this strangeness which heralds the emerging romantic sensibility. |
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Théodore Gericault, The Raft of the Medusa, 1819
Romanticism
Géricault spent a long time preparing the composition of this painting, which he intended to exhibit at the Salon of 1819. He began by amassing documentation and questioning the survivors, whom he sketched; he then worked with a model and wax figurines, studied severed cadavers in his studio, used friends as models, and hesitated between a number of subjects. The result of this long preparatory period can be seen in two sketches now in the Louvre (RF 2229, RF 1667). There followed the period of solitary work in his studio, spent getting to grips with a vast canvas measuring five meters by seven.
The pallid bodies are given cruel emphasis by a Caravaggio-style chiaroscuro; some writhe in the elation of hope, while others are unaware of the passing ship. The latter include two figures of despair and solitude: one mourning his son, the other bewailing his own fate. These figures reflect the Romantic inspiration that fueled the work of both Géricault and Gros, and the former's admiration for the latter (see The Plague-Stricken in Jaffa). |
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Anne-Louis Girodet, Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley, 1797
Neoclassical
Anne-Louis Girodet Trioson’s Portrait of C.[itizen] Jean-Baptiste Belley, ex-representative of the Colonies, is evidence of the changing ideological situation during the French Revolution. Girodet was one of the most learned and accomplished students of Jacques-Louis David who strove to surpass his teacher in two ways: 1) by painting David’s Neoclassical style so well that his handling surpasses that of his master, and 2) by choosing subject matter never before explored by David. Girodet accomplishes both within this work. The Neoclassical handling of the image has been achieved with amazing clarity, and the central figure of an identified black man had never been displayed in the Salon previously. The work was without precedent and without progeny. It successfully transcends the boundaries of portraiture into the highest tier of the Academic hierarchy: History Painting. Lacking in the existing scholarship of this portrait as history painting is that the work is successful in fulfilling a didactic and moralizing function, bearing significance to the general public. Scholars have hitherto ignored the striking visual similarities between this and Grand Tour portraits of Englishmen earlier in the century. This portrait of Belley calls into question accepted post-colonial readings by not adhering to a strict Orientalist interpretation. His hybrid nature nullifies readings that he is merely a black man posed as a French one. Belley cannot be seen as simply African, nor Haitian, nor French, nor military man, nor politician; each of these aspects of his being add up to his individual identity. It was because of Belley’s race that he was chosen for this portrait; his complex nature creates a dramatic painting relevant to varied members of the general public, his status as a black man allows for a politically relevant subject worthy of history painting, and the choice of Girodet’s model of Grand Tour portraiture with its connotations of education, travel and social status—when applied to a black man—make this a revolutionary painting unparalleled in history. |
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Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing the Alps at Saint-Bernard Pass, 1800
Neoclassical
In Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul, crossing the Alps at Great St. Bernard Pass, 20 May 1800 of 1803, a uniformed Napoleon sits comfortably astride a wild-eyed, rearing horse on a snow-covered mountainside, his bright red cape whipped by the wind. One hand firmly grips the reins while the other points skyward over the peaks. Under the barrel of the horse’s chest the figures of soldiers can be seen pushing equipment upward through the bleak landscape.
The strong use of diagonals gives the painting a sense of dynamism, the highest point of the red cape propelling the eye forward, mirroring the gesture of the mounted soldier and suggesting the direction and momentum of the attack. Wind rakes the horse’s mane and tail and sends the dark clouds sliding across the sky, suggesting the dynamic forces of nature harnessed by the invading army. Horse and rider are illuminated as if in divine affirmation of Napoleon’s power. |
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Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun, Marie-Antoinette With Her Children, 1787
Rococo
In 1786, Marie Antoinette and her children posed for a portrait by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun (click the image above for the full version). At first glance, the resulting picture presents a happy image. Madame Royale gazes lovingly up at her mother, the infant Duc de Normandie bounces on her lap, and the Dauphin looks every inch the angelic heir to the throne of France. This is an image of the family Marie Antoinette always longed for, and a vision of the Queen as she wished herself to be seen.
But look closer and all is not quite as it should be. The young dauphin points so proudly and so invitingly, but leads our eye to a gaping hole at the centre of the picture. When the portrait was first painted, the crib was occupied by another baby, Marie Antoinette’s most recent child, Madame Sophie. Less than a year later, Madame Sophie was dead, and thoughts of her wretched life and early death caused Marie Antoinette so much pain that Sophie was painted out of the picture.
The image that was left is a haunting and somehow apt visual metaphor for Marie Antoinette’s deeply troubled relationship with children. From the first days of her own childhood to her execution, and even beyond in the murky waters of her reputation, children – both absent and present, real and imagined – seem peculiarly to have defined Marie Antoinette. It is this sometimes joyous but more often painful relationship that I will examine in the next few weeks in a series of new posts, focusing especially on the lesser-known aspects of Marie Antoinette’s story |
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The Oath of the Horatii, Jacques-Louis David, 1785
Neoclassical
The result of a commission for a painting depicting Roman history. International sensation, inspired by The sword fight between three Roman warriors and three Albans that was supposed to resolve the conflict. The Romans selected three brothers from the Horatii family. He painted the scene of the Horatii taking an oath on their swords, swearing they will either win or die. This scene was of David's own invention. |
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Jean Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Apotheosis of Homer, 1827
Neoclassical
The drawings also witness to a high level of precision, whilst the final painting's colours are very fresh and clear, giving the impression of fresco. Ingres's level of research can be seen in the painting's portrait of Nicolas Poussin, which is directly copied from Poussin's 1650 self-portrait now in the Louvre. Ingres wished to compete with Raphael through this painting (it is strongly inspired by the Italian artist's Parnassus) and Raphael is to be seen top left (in black and white Renaissance dress), being led by Apelles (in a blue cloak). Other figures shown include Dante is also shown being led by Virgil as in the former's Divine Comedy (extreme left, behind Poussin) and Molière (right, by the feet of the personification of the Odyssey). In the large number of figures it gathers, indeed, it is a kind of classical confession of faith. |
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Liberty Leading the People, Eugene Delacroix, 1830
Romantic
Although the right background of the painting contains elements of an urban landscape, it seems empty and distant in comparison with the pitched battle that fills the left side of the scene. The towers of Notre Dame represent liberty and Romanticism—as they did for Victor Hugo—and situate the action in Paris. Their position on the left bank of the Seine is inexact, and the houses between the Cathedral and the river are pure products of the painter's imagination. A sunset glow, mingled with the canon smoke, illuminates the baroque postures of the bodies and shines bright in the right background, creating an aura around Liberty, the young boy, and the tricolor flag.
As we have already seen, the composition is given unity by the painter's particularly skilful use of color; the blue, white, and red elements have counterpoints; the white of the parallel straps across the fighters’ shoulders echoes that of the gaiters and of the shirt on the corpse to the left, while the gray tonality enhances the red of the flag. |
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Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793
Neoclassical
Marat is dying: his eyelids droop, his head weighs heavily on his shoulder, his right arm slides to the ground. His body, as painted by David, is that of a healthy man, still young. The scene inevitably calls to mind a rendering of the "Descent from the Cross." The face is marked by suffering, but is also gentle and suffused by a growing peacefulness as the pangs of death loosen their grip. David has surrounded Marat with a number of details borrowed from his subject's world, including the knife and Charlotte Corday's petition, attempting to suggest through these objects both the victim's simplicity and grandeur, and the perfidy of the assassin. The petition ("My great unhappiness gives me a right to your kindness"), the assignat Marat was preparing for some poor unfortunate ("you will give this assignat to that mother of five children whose husband died in the defense of his country"), the makeshift writing-table and the mended sheet are the means by which David discreetly bears witness to his admiration and indignation.
The face, the body, and the objects are suffused with a clear light, which is softer as it falls on the victim's features and harsher as it illuminates the assassin's petition. David leaves the rest of his model in shadow. In this sober and subtle interplay of elements can be seen, in perfect harmony with the drawing, the blend of compassion and outrage David felt at the sight of the victim. The painting was presented to the Coinvention on 15 November 1793. It immediately the object of extravagant praise; one critic claimed "the face expresses a supreme kindness and an exemplary revolutionary spirit carried to the point of sacrifice." |
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