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The Modern History Painting
After the Revolution, David became a member of the radical Jacobin party, which
established a revolutionary dictatorship under the leadership of Robespierre
The Reign of Terror, which lasted from September 1793 until the fall of Robespierre in
1794 was supposed to purge France of enemies of the revolution
Thousands were executed by guillotine, including the king and the queen
“Most of the people rounded up were not aristocrats, but ordinary people. A man
(and his family) might go to the guillotine for saying something critical of the
revolutionary government. If an informer happened to overhear, that was all the
tribunal needed . . . The promises of the Declaration of the Rights of Man were
forgotten. Terror was the order of the day.”
The Reign of Terror, HistoryWiz
Joseph Bose, Portrait of Jean-Paul Marat, 1793
Musée Carnavalet, Paris
Wikimedia
Jean-Paul Marat, the editor of the Jacobin newspaper L’Ami de
peuple, was one of the leading instigators of the Reign of Terror
A fiery orator and provocateur, he used his paper to incite public
violence against what he perceived to be enemies of the revolution
Jacques Louis David, Study for the head of Marat, 1793
Musée National du Château, VersaillesPicture of Charlotte Corday from 1904 publication, Juniper Hall
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/france/ig/Charlotte-Corday/Charlotte-
Corday--Juniper-Hall.htm
In 1793 he was murdered in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a royalist
sympathizer who feared the power he had over public opinion
Jacques Louis
David, Death of
Marat, 1793
David was commissioned by the Jacobin government to
commemorate his friend’s death
He depicted the journalist in his medicinal bath (he suffered from a skin disease),
with a makeshift desk at his side, along with his writing instruments
As blood drips from his wound, he clutches the letter from his assassin in his left
hand, while the bloodied murder weapon lays on the ground in the foreground
His skin is pale and unblemished, and his face betrays nothing of the violent
temper for which he was renowned
The light bathes his serene face in a soft golden glow, set off by the dark
background, while his right arm dangles limply over the side of the tub,
recalling Michelangelo’s Pieta
David’s image of Marat is like a modern Pieta, where a martyr of
the revolution has taken the place of Christ, and Christianity has
been replaced by a new “civic religion”
It is worth pausing here to fully take in how far we have traveled
since the beginning of this class, when Mary Jesus and the
Saints were really the only acceptable subject matter for art
Gentile da Fabriano, Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine, Saint Nicholas, and Donor, c. 1370-1427
First, we saw private individuals showing up as donor portraits,
small in scale, and piously praying towards an image of the Virgin
Then we saw the emergence of the secular portrait, and grand
portraits of Monarchs or epic heroes from the classical past
Yes, we also saw genre scenes — but never have we seen modern
individuals depicted in the kind of heroic scene that was commonly
reserved for religious and classical subjects
This is the moment when we have truly entered the modern world, and
modern heroes have now taken center stage
Jacques Louis David, Death of Marat, 1793
Instead of looking to religion or to the Classical past to find “exemplars of
virtue,” David has found a modern hero in his own midst
Gilbert Stuart, Portrait of
Benjamin West, 1783-4
A similar shift towards the “modern history” painting can be seen in the work
of Benjamin West, an American painter who was born in Philadelphia (when
it was still a British colony), and who spent most of his career in London (in
fact, he became the 2nd president of the British Royal Academy)
Benjamin West, Caesar Reading the History of Alexander’s Exploits, 1769
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
West was a bonafide Neoclassicist, as can be seen in this painting depicting
the Roman Emperor Caesar, reading about the exploits of Alexander the
Great
Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770
But West took a radically new approach with this painting, which represents a
modern historical event, rather than a subject from history
Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770
The painting depicts a decisive event during the French and Indian war,
which took place in Quebec, Canada, on September 13, 1789
General Wolffe, the leader of the British forces has been wounded, and he is
surrounded by his faithful soldiers as he expires on the battlefield
Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770
A messenger rushes in from the background bringing the news that the battle
has been won, and we can already see the clouds of war clearing on the left
as patches of blue sky and sunlight begin to cut through the gloom
Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770
West’s painting was considered to be “revolutionary” for its time because it
depicted a modern day event, instead of a story from ancient history
Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770
But West painted the picture as if these modern actors were ancient Roman
heroes come to life
Benjamin West, Caesar Reading the History of Alexander’s Exploits, 1769
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Its as if he took the noble characters from his Neoclassical paintings, and
dressed them up in modern costume to act out a contemporary event
Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770
The grand poses of all the figures is taken from classical sources, including
the Native American Indian in the foreground (which locates the story in the
New World)
The figure of General Wolffe is based directly on images of Jesus Christ in
scenes of the Lamentation
Jacques Louis David, Death of Marat, 1793
Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770
And so at the end of the century, in both France and England, we witness the
entry into the modern secular world, where political heroes now take the
place once occupied by god and king