Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) - a representative of neoclassicism in French painting. After a period of baroque and even more refined and frivolous Rococo, a new word was the return to ancient simplicity in the XVIII century. The brightest representative of the new school was David.
A few words about the artistic manner of the painter
Having begun to work under the influence of F. Boucher and having given his debt of Rococo prettiness, the young artist visited Rome and returned from it, full of new impressions and ideas. He turned his eyes to the morality and heroism of ancient history, to the laconicism of the image. In Rome, he wrote The Oath of the Horatii in 1784. This work has become a model for most artists who feel the dictates of the time. He was enthusiastically received in Rome and Paris. It was then that the features of the technique were formed, which he will use for a long time:
- Figures and objects stand out in the foreground.
- The background is designed to shade them. Strict dark or dull colors are used.
- The composition is extremely concise.
- The details are clear, given in large strokes. This distinguishes them from the airiness of Rococo.
Bloody Great French Revolution
Economic and political reasons led to the capture of the Bastille in 1789, the trial of the king in 1792-1793, after the establishment of the National Convention. But the execution of the king did not lead to a prosperity of the population. It was starving. There was no unity in the Convention itself. The noblewoman, Girondist Charlotte Corday, was shocked by the execution of the king and arrived in Paris, believing that France was in the hands of people who were doing harm to everyone. She came to Paris and bought a kitchen knife in the Palais Royal. Three times, under the pretext that she wanted to warn about a plot being prepared, she tried to get into Marat.
In the end, Marat, who had eczema and suffered from unbearable itching, took her to the bathroom, where he had always worked in recent months. The bottom of the bath where he sat was covered with sheets, which sometimes enveloped his shoulders. On the bath lay a board that served as his table. He was relieved of severe headaches by compresses from vinegar (information from the French source “Bath Marat”). After a brief conversation, Corde stabbed her with a knife under the collarbone of a hated sanctuary. She was taken at the crime scene. She did not unlock in court. She was executed. And Marat, nicknamed "Friend of the people" has become a cult person. On the altars of the churches stood his busts, draped with the banners of the revolution.
David's preliminary work
As soon as the artist found out about the murder, he immediately rushed to Cordillera Street, on which Marat lived. The painter immediately made drawings, which later helped him write "The Death of Marat." The picture almost immediately formed into a single whole in the artist’s head. By candlelight, the painter quickly made sketches.
He was greatly shocked by the death of Marat. The picture was not even ordered by anyone. The artist painted for himself. The order will come the next day, as well as a request to arrange a funeral. An ardent revolutionary, David saw in the murdered hero a martyr. That is what he tried to identify in the funeral ceremony and, accordingly, write "The Death of Marat." The picture was to become a symbol of devotion to the idea and sacrifice. During the funeral of Marat, his embalmed body was wrapped, as was done with the Roman soldiers, in white sheets. So there was a funeral. "The Death of Marat", a picture whose creation story as a whole has already been written, since David did all the preparatory work, invites the viewer to think about memory and morality. The artist himself created the canvas within three months.
"Death of Marat": description of the painting
“Each of us is responsible to the homeland for the talent that he has. A true patriot should serve her willingly, enlightening fellow citizens by all means and urging them to exalted feats and virtues ”- this is David’s statement.
From this angle, he depicted the death of Marat. The picture is concise. The artist did not write the painful state of the skin of a fiery revolutionary. The composition is simple and bold. It resembles the body of Christ in Michelangelo's Pieta or Caravaggio's Burial. And his wound brings to mind the spear that pierced the chest of Jesus. The body of already dead Marat with a hand hanging from the bath holds a feather. The second hand rests on the board. It contains a false letter to Corde, which is stained with blood.
She says in it that she is very unhappy. The last thing that the hero himself wrote lies nearby. It says that money should be given to the mother of 5 children, whose father died for freedom. The bill lies right there. Bath water and sheets are stained with blood. On the floor is a large kitchen knife, also stained with blood. Marat's ugly, wide-cheeked face is ennobled by the silence of death that kissed him. In this picture, there is something tender and bitter at the same time. With such feelings, David saw the death of Marat. The picture is filled with historically real details, but bears an imprint of ideal. The inscription on the rough wooden box reads: "MARATU - David." This is such a peculiar epitaph.
Color and details
Against the dark background of the wall, a beam of light highlighted on the side of the bathtub was the revolutionary’s light body with a bloody wound and white sheets.
The shadows are very sharp, so the leaf in the foreground seems to protrude beyond the edge of the canvas. All the details speak of the Spartan, extremely modest lifestyle of the leader of the Jacobins. Under his left hand are sheets of paper showing that Marat has just begun, but has not finished his work. The journalistic pen in his right hand, which Marat holds, shows that until the last breath he served the revolution. All the details of the canvas show contemporaries that Marat was poor and incorruptible.
The painting "The Death of Marat" (1793) is located in Brussels.