Jacques Louis David studied drawing and the literary classics before being accepted into the Académie Royale at the young age of eighteen. After eight years of struggle, he finally won the coveted Prix de Rome. Visits to ruins, exposure to Neoclassical doctrines, and study of Nicolas Poussin's classicism encouraged him to adopt a style and subject matter derived from antiquity, as in the painting below, where David depicts a scene from the Iliad in which the corpse of Hector lies near the camp of Achilles. I also offer reproductions of this painting in my store.
Body of Hector
Returning in Paris in 1780, David soon prospered. Large canvases of classical themes brought him election to the Académie Royale in 1784 and sensational success at the Paris Salon in 1785.
Below, from 1780, Patroclus: This early Neoclassical work by Jacques-Louis David is now displayed in the Musee Thomas Henry in Cherbourg, France. Fine art prints available.
Patroclus
David's firm linear contours, even lighting, pure colors, and frieze-like composition were admired, but more than his style was revolutionary. Many of his paintings came to be regarded as a political manifesto for ending the corruption of an effete aristocracy and returning to the stern, patriotic morals attributed to republican Rome.
Below, a reproduction of The Sabine Women by Jacques Louis David. It portrays a battle between the early Romans and the Sabines. I offer reproductions of this artwork in my online store.
The Sabine Women
"The Robespierre of the brush," David served in the French Revolutionary government, painted portraits of its leaders, designed its republican festivals and funerals, and suffered imprisonment when the political winds shifted. Despite his impassioned earlier rhetoric - "The artist must be a philosopher…. an artistic genius should have no other guide except the torch of reason” - David handily transferred his loyalties to Napoleon Bonaparte, the new ruler of France. Exiled to Brussels after Napoleon's fall from power, David continued to train young painters and draftsmen.
Leonidas at Thermopylae
This Neo-classical painting from Jacques Louis David depicts the camp of Leonidas, king of Sparta, has he waited for the titanic forces from the East, the army of the Persians.
Prints and posters of this painting are for sale in my online store.
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