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In this painting, completed in 1785 as an oil on canvas, David (DA-VEED) successfully coalesces the nascent and confused ideology of the Neo-Classical movement in a dramatic portrayal of the Horatii brothers swearing their allegiance to the state as their father stands with swords held high for them to grasp. An analysis of the painting’s historical background, and an evaluation of the lines, colors, and subject matter, will illustrate why Oath of the Horatii represents the defining characteristics of the Neo-Classical period. David enrolled in the Académie Royal in 1766, when he was eighteen. In 1769 he competed for the first time in the Prix de Rome, and lost. It was not until his fifth attempt in 1774 that he finally won with his Antiochus and Stratonice. The Academy maintained a branch in Rome and winners of the Prix were sent there on a fellowship to continue their studies. David returned to France in 1779 as a well-skilled—if not yet well-known—artist and was able to display some work in the Salon. Over the next five years he gained notice as a supreme draftsman in studio nudes and as a man able to project classicism similar to Poussin. His work also appealed to the didactic philosophers of the Age of Reason. In 1784 David received a commission from the Comte d’Angiviller (the head supervisor of all build and construction under the King of France, Louis XVI) for a painting based on a Corneillian subject. Corneille’s play, Horace, was being performed in Paris at this time. Oath of the Horatii was started in Paris, but David felt he needed to be immersed in the ambiance and culture of Rome to complete it. The painting created a sensation when first exhibited in Rome of 1885, and was seen as an allegorical cry for a Revolution in France. Indeed, it was only four more years until the French Revolution was underway. The painting is now kept in the Louvre, Paris. The lines or structure of this painting show how David steered away from the extreme delicacy and flowery treatment of the classical revival typical of the Louis XVI style. Here, every element has been stripped to a type of minimalism. There are no excessive brush strokes and the fluidity, spontaneity, and feminine elegance is replaced with a stoical masculinity. There is a main compositional element of a triangle with the brothers to the left, the women to the right, and Horatius in the center with the up-raised swords forming the apex. The exaggerated posture of Horatius and that of the brothers holding a spear create another triangle; this one slightly left of center and inverted. The eye is immediately drawn to these triangular compositions; yet it also notices the contradicting horizontal lines of the marble floor in the foreground, and the strong vertical lines of the Doric columns and curvilinear archways of the background. David’s choice of colors are few, but well balanced. His pallet seems to consist of red, blue, brown, white, black, and flesh tones. The vivid red of the cloak of Horatius draws the viewer to the center. The brothers wear clothing of red, white, and blue as they prepare to patriotically and passionately fight for the glory of Rome. While the women, in their sullen downcast mood, are huddled together in earth tones. The scene is closed off from the rest of the world by the deep shadowy recesses among the columns. The use of shadow—partial and full—helps to add depth to the basic colors and give variations of hue throughout the composition. The painting’s theme or subject matter is one of the heroic grandeur of republic Rome, whose severe moral code, virility, and honor gleamed in sharp contrast to the opulent frills and laces of pre-revolutionary France. The painting is based on Corneille’s play, Horace. The play is set during a time of war for the Roman Republic, in which three Horatii brothers fight against three Curatti brothers to settle the war between Rome and Alba. David chose to capture the moment when the aged Horatius is holding three swords out to his sons as they swear a solemn oath to fight for their country, and the women lament over the possible fate of the heroes. The Horatii and the Curatti are related by marriage. Sabina, a Curatti, is married to one of the brothers taking the oath and Camilla, a Horatii, is betrothed to a Curatti. The approximate symmetry of the painting is more prominent when the story is known. The left and right sides differ not only in their physical composition, but also in the emotional connotations each depicts. On the left, the men are more vivid, larger, animated, and brought to the foreground with a ‘for love of country’ attitude; on the right, the women are subdued, smaller, huddled for comfort, and moved closer to the background as they weep for husbands, brothers, and all that war brings. Jacques Louis David varied his style throughout his life and has paintings that are Baroque, Rococo, Realistic, and Classical. However, in his Oath of the Horatii David clearly defines the type of subject matter and presentation that marks Neo-Classicism by drawing on historical subjects from antiquity and painting them as a type of bas-relief with strong angular lines and theatrical poses. This painting set the tone for other Neo-Classical painters to follow. Bibliography: Bibliography Canaday, John. The Lives of the Painters. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1969. Cumming, Robert. Annotated Art. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1995. Myers, Bernard S., ed. Encyclopedia of Painting. New York: Crown, 1970. Nanteuil, Luc de. David. New York: Abrams, 1990. Photo Credit Williams, Natale. “The Neo-Classicism Artists.” 2000. The Oath of the Horatii. 25 September 2001. . Word Count: 989
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