LOUVRE MUSEUM, David The Oath Of The Horatii Denon Wing Hall 75

Jacques Louis David was the dominant figure of painting in his time. Thanks to his exemplary clear style, virtually two entire generations of French painters between the 1700s and 1800s are bound to his teachings. He was born in Paris in the mid-1700s and studied for a long time in Italy, where he was greatly impressed by Raphael's works and the testimonies of Greek and Latin culture. These experiences then pushed him to adhere to the aesthetic and stylistic ideals of Neoclassicism, of which he will become one of the undisputed masters.

The work Oath of the Horatii that you are now admiring was his first masterpiece, which he had painted at the age of 36 during his second stay in Rome. The painting had been commissioned by King Louis XVI and was exposed with great success at the "Salon", the famous exposition of academic artists that was held in the Louvre, and has remained here ever since....