,transcriber's ,note3 ,italics are enclosed in underscores4 ,additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook4 ,illustration3 ,,mlle4 ,,charlotte ,,du ,,val ,d',,ognes ,the ,metropolitan ,museum of ,art1 ,new ,york ,,jacques ,,louis ,,david ,,and ,,the ,,french ,,revolution ,,by ,w4 ,r4 ,,valentiner ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,,frederic ,,fairchild ,,sherman ,,mcmxxix ,copyright1 #aibi1 by ,frederic ,f4 ,sherman ,,to ,,eleanor ,,and ,,edsel ,b4 ,,ford ,,illustrations ,,mlle4 ,,charlotte ,,du ,,val ,d',,ognes ,frontispiece ,,fig4 #a ,,madame ,,de ,,servan 7#agii7 #c ,,fig4 #b ,h4 ,,rigaud3 ,,gentleman ,,playing ,a ,,bagpipe #c ,,fig4 #c ,f4 ,,boucher3 ,,madame ,,de ,,pompadour #c ,,fig4 #d ,,minerva',s ,,conquest ,,of ,,mars 7#agga7 #d ,,fig4 #e ,,the ,,blind ,,belisarius 7#agha7 #h ,,fig4 #f ,,the ,,oath ,,of ,,the ,,horatii 7#aghd7 #h ,,fig4 #g ,,village ,,outside ,,rome 7#aghh7 #h ,,fig4 #h ,,view ,,in ,,rome 7#aghh7 #h ,,fig4 #i ,,pen ,,sketch ,,of ,,marie ,,antoinette 7#agic7 ,made from the artist's window as the tumbril halted on the way to the scaffold #ad ,,fig4 #aj ,,study ,,from ,,the ,,italian ,,sketchbook 7#aghh7 #ad ,,fig4 #aa ,,michel ,g,,rard ,,and ,,his ,,family 7#aghi7 #ah ,,fig4 #ab ,,portrait ,,of ,,bar,,re 7#agic7 #bb ,,fig4 #ac ,,lavoisier ,,and ,,his ,,wife 7#aghg7 #bf ,,fig4 #ad ,,mme4 ,,de ,,richmond ,,and ,,her ,,son 7c4 #ahjj7 #bf ,,fig4 #ae ,,le ,,pelletier 7#agic7 ,from engraving in the ,louvre #bf ,,fig4 #af ,,marat 7#agic7 #bf ,,fig4 #ag ,,danton 7#agii7 ,from drawing in the ,museum1 ,lille #bf ,,fig4 #ah ,,madame ,,seriziat ,,and ,,son 7#agie7 #cb ,,fig4 #ai ,,monsieur ,,seriziat 7#agie7 #cb ,,fig4 #bj ,,marat 7#agic7 #ch ,,fig4 #ba ,,st4 ,,just 7#agib7 #dd ,,fig4 #bb ,,self ,,portrait #dd ,,fig4 #bc ,,woman ,,of ,,the ,,revolution 7#agie7 #ea ,,fig4 #bd ,,napoleon ,,as ,,first ,,consul 7#agig7 #ea ,,fig4 #be ,,portrait ,,of ,,vig,e ,,lebrun 7#agic7 #ed ,,fig4 #bf ,,madame ,,recamier 7#ahjj7 #ed ,,fig4 #bg ,,ingres ,,as ,a ,,boy 7#agie7 #ed ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4 ,h4 ,,rigaud3 ,,gentleman ,,playing ,a ,,bagpipe ,museum1 ,aix ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4 ,l4 ,,david3 ,,madame ,,de ,,servan 7#agii7 ,private ,possession1 ,new ,york ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4 ,f4 ,,boucher3 ,,madame ,,de ,,pompadour ,collection of ,maurice de ,rothschild1 ,paris ,,jacques ,,louis ,,david ,,and ,,the ,,french ,,revolution ,is it possible that a period like the ,french ,revolution and the era of ,napoleon's tyrannous rule should witness the development of a great art8 ,it would seem that in the domain of art fresh creative impulses are born more often in times of unrest and disturbance than in periods of political security4 ,those epochs in the history of art which we regard today as 8golden ages0--the age of ,pericles2 the ,renaissance at about #aejj2 the ,holland of the day of ,frans ,hals and ,rembrandt--were by no means peaceful years1 but periods of national strife and revolutionary ideas4 ,no happy alliance is possible between political discipline and art which springs from the free1 untrammeled impulse of the individual4 ,we need only walk through those galleries at ,fontainebleau arranged by ,napoleon during the days of his ,empire to recognize the deadening influence exerted by an established autocracy1 and feel blow coldly over us the chilly breath of an academic and court-inspired art4 ,on the contrary1 the period of the ,french ,revolution1 and the days of ,napoleon's struggle to power1 which coincided with the period of ,david's finest achievement1 witnessed so powerful an onrush of new ideas that their influence persists till the present day4 ,modern art had its inception in this period1 and today1 after a lapse of over a hundred years1 is again tending in the direction first indicated by ,david4 ,it is herein that the significance of his contribution lies4 ,helped by the influences of the revolution1 he destroyed the artificial1 hyper-refined art ideals of the eighteenth century1 and substituted for them a sterner1 simpler1 more healthy and democratic art4 ,that is not to affirm that his art was greater than the one it superseded4 ,david was not a genius of the highest order as was ,watteau1 but to those of us sensitive to the forces underlying our own times1 it says--or should say--more than pre-revolutionary art4 ,we need only to compare a portrait of ,david's style like the one of ,madame de ,servan 7,fig4 #a7 with portraits of his predecessors 7,figs4 #b and #c7 in order to recognize the difference between the ,rococo period and the new era1 introduced by ,david4 ,this portrait of ,madame de ,servan1 painted about #ahjj1a impresses one as a composition of statuesque simplicity expressing the salient spirit of a period which was seeking fundamentally new doctrines by which to govern life4 ,the portrait by ,rigaud1 the famous court painter of the reign of ,louis ,,xiv1 painted in the beginning of the century1 and of ,boucher's portrait of ,madame de ,pompadour1 painted in #ageh1 do not differ too much from another in style4 ,in these portraits of the ,rococo period the surface is filled with a restless play of short-curving lines2 light and shadow are alternated perpetually at close intervals2 the colors form a pleasing pattern of small variegated patches1 and the costume and accessories almost eclipse the real motif--that of portraiture4 ,in ,david's canvas the figure emerges clearly from a wide and empty space1 and a clear1 flowing line with definite horizontals and verticals has replaced the tortuous curves4 ,it seems an extraordinary piece of daring for the artist to have composed in these broad planes with a completely empty background1 when we consider the century-old tradition embodied in the older paintings4 ,it was the ,french ,revolution1 with its rejection of old formulas which inspired this daring4 ,but just as the revolution1 from prelude to aftermath1 covered a span of some twenty years1 so the artist required a similar period of time to gradually attain the classic style which we see here stamped with the authority of his fifty years4 ,jacques ,louis ,david was born in #agdh in the middle of the ,louis ,,xv period1 and the school which fathered him was that of ,boucher1 the frank exponent of the playful and elegant school of painting fostered by the artificial social life of ,paris4 ,david's earliest known composition1 8,minerva's ,conquest of ,mars10 painted in #agga in the artist's twenty-third year1 and now in the ,louvre 7,fig4 #d71 shows ,boucher's influence clearly4 ,here we still have the unquiet baroque line of pre-revolutionary painting--the picture is full of detail1 the draperies worn by the figures flutter in the breeze like those of ,boucher and the cherubs beloved of this master float in the clouds4 ,the subject1 too1 is of the mythologic-allegorical character affected by the painters of the court and the aristocracy4 ,the ,goddess of ,wisdom conquers the ,god of ,war6 ,what irony when we remember that twenty years later during the revolution the painter of this picture was among those who helped let loose on ,france a war of twenty years' duration4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d4 ,,minerva',s ,,conquest ,,of ,,mars 7#agga7 ,louvre1 ,paris ,if we look more closely we can discern an alien spirit behind the apparently suave portrayal4 ,despite his subject the young artist's combative vein emerges4 ,true1 ,mars is overthrown1 but with what ill grace he accepts his fate4 ,it might be ,danton himself1 the great revolutionary1 overthrown by his enemies4 ,a face expressing such fury of despair1 so spasmodically clenched a hand was never portrayed by any of the playful ,rococo painters1 and can we not discern something of the energetic ,napoleonic spirit in ,minerva's conquering pose8 ,david must have been of a naturally passionate and excitable temperament--possibly inherited from his father who was killed in a duel when the boy was eleven years old4 ,as a young artist he applied for the ,prix de ,rome1 and when he did not at once receive it from the ,academy1 was about to take his life in despair and was only persuaded by a friend to abandon the idea of starving himself to death after three days of fasting with that purpose in view4 ,later on1 in extenuation of this episode1 he said3 8,this postponement of my journey to ,italy was prejudicial to my development1 as ,i was four years too late in abandoning the bad style of the ,french painters40 ,like all reformers he believed that everything produced by the generation preceding him was bad1 although today all that we can say is that it was different6 ,when1 in #agge1 he did actually set out for ,rome1 and his friends at parting advised him to beware the influence of the antique1 he replied proudly1 8,antique art cannot seduce me--it lacks fire and passion40 ,before long1 however1 he was in thrall to the classic art of ,italy1 and within a few years his art had undergone a complete transformation1 not only in form but in subject4 ,one of the first pictures that he sent from ,italy in #agha to be exhibited in ,paris was 8,the ,blind ,belisarius10 now in the ,museum at ,lille 7a later version1 painted in #aghd1 in the ,louvre7 7,fig4 #e74 ,belisarius1 once an all-powerful general of the ,roman ,emperor ,justinian1 crouches1 old1 blind and poor by the side of the road4 ,the saviour of ,rome and conqueror of ,carthage has fallen into disgrace with a master jealous of his fame1 and is reduced to beggary4 ,a rich ,roman lady1 with tears in her eyes1 is placing alms in the old man's helmet held out by a youth1 while a passing soldier recognizes his old commander with surprise and pain4 ,our artist has turned his back on the cheerful ,olympian themes of the allegoric-mythological school1 and with this tragic subject descends to that world of sorrow and misery in which1 but a few years later1 he was to see his own nation engulfed4 ,he is still preoccupied1 however1 with classic themes seen through the eyes of that antiquity in which he had submerged himself4 ,he has not yet completely achieved his individual style1 and ,boucher's influence is superseded by that of another ,french painter who represented the classic style one hundred years earlier--,poussin4 ,this influence lasted throughout his ,italian period4 ,even as late as #aghh we are constantly reminded in his landscape studies of ,nicolas ,poussin and ,claude ,lorrain1 as may be exemplified by the two pages from an hitherto unpublished ,italian sketchbook dated #aghh1 reproducing views from the surroundings of ,rome 7,figs4 #g and #h74b ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e4 ,,the ,,blind ,,belisarius 7#agha7 ,museum1 ,lille ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #f4 ,,the ,,oath ,,of ,,the ,,horatii 7#aghd7 ,louvre1 ,paris ,just as the poets and orators of the revolution harked back to the classic trend of the seventeenth century--as ,voltaire and even ,robespierre evoked ,racine and ,corneille--,david1 too1 now followed a trend of ,french art which has persisted from medieval times to the present day1 that line of classic1 simple1 antiquely conceived1 clearly constructed creations from which the highly developed church sculptures of the middle ages1 the ,renaissance paintings of the period of ,francis ,i1 and the art of ,claude ,lorrain and ,poussin derive4 ,simplicity and straight lines replaced the restless1 complicated curve in the composition of the ,belisarius4 ,it is not alone in the architecture1 strongly influenced by the antique1 that the horizontal and vertical line multiplied itself1 the painter1 too1 sought to lend strength and rhythm to his composition by a parallelism in the gestures of his figures4 ,the arms of ,belisarius and the boy follow the same line1 as do their feet1 and the soldier's hands repeat the parallel gesture4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #g4 ,,village ,,outside ,,rome ,from the ,italian sketchbook 7#aghh7 ,private possession1 ,detroit ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #h4 ,,view ,,in ,,rome ,from the ,italian sketchbook 7#aghh7 ,private possession1 ,detroit ,david achieved this linear cordination between figures and architecture with even greater success in his next important work1 8,the ,oath of the ,horatii10 painted in #aghc and now in the ,louvre 7,fig4 #f74 ,the figures1 divided into three groups1 are posed in masterly fashion against the three arches of the architectural background--three men on the left1 three female figures on the right1 and the old man1 holding out the three swords in the centre4 ,the movement swings from group to group with the same rhythm that governs the curves of the arches1 and is strongly emphasized by the parallel lines of limbs and draperies4 ,we are told that the outstretched foot of the foremost youth was drawn and redrawn by ,david many times4 ,it is now in exactly the right stance to determine the general linear movement and is at the same time a masterpiece of naturalistic drawing4 ,the pose of this youth's spear has been criticised as practically impossible1 but it requires precisely this continuous line to strengthen the rhythm of the outstretched legs4 ,the motif is again drawn from ,roman history1 this time via a drama by ,corneille with which ,david was familiar4 ,the three sons of the old ,horace1 who occupies the centre of the canvas1 were chosen by the ,romans to meet the ,albans in single combat1 the latter being also represented by three brothers1 the ,curiatii4 ,it had been agreed that this combat should decide which race would have dominion over the other4 ,the victory fell to the ,horatii1 the representatives of ,rome4 ,two of the brothers fell in combat with the ,curiatii1 but the third triumphed through a ruse--turning apparently in flight and killing his three opponents one after another as they pursued him4 ,the trumpet call to freedom implicit in this composition must have rung in the ears of the youthful ,french patriots who crowded to see it1 for it appeared at a moment when the soul of young ,france had been stirred by the ,american war of independence4 ,it was painted in the year #aghc when ,benjamin ,franklin signed in ,paris that treaty with ,england in which1 for the first time1 the independence of the ,american ,union was recognized4 ,beyond the ,atlantic there had come into existence a republic comparable to the ,roman republic1 an anti-monarchical conception whose ideals were sympathetic to the progressive thinkers of ,france1 though ,france was1 at the same time1 the seat of ,europe's oldest and most absolute monarchy4 ,how did this message of freedom from across the ocean affect the youth of ,france8 ,our artist's ear was sensitively attuned to the ferment of radical thought4 ,while the painters of the older school1 ,boucher and ,fragonard1 still painted their playful compositions and tried to dissemble the tragic reality1 the dull rumble of the coming earthquake sounded its note in ,david's paintings4 ,his themes became ever more gruesome and inflammatory4 ,a painting in ,marseilles depicts ,st4 ,roche pleading with the ,madonna to succor the sick1 and the foreground is filled with dead1 plague-stricken bodies4 ,another in ,valence represents the ,death of ,ugolino with his ,sons--that horrible scene from ,dante's ,divina ,commedia in which the ,italian general and his five sons die of hunger in a dungeon into which they have been thrown by his political enemies4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #i4 ,,pen ,,sketch ,,of ,,marie ,,antoinette ,made from the artist's window as the tumbril halted on the way to the scaffold 7#agic7 ,collection of ,edmond de ,rothschild1 ,paris ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aj4 ,,study ,,from ,,the ,,italian ,,sketchbook 7#aghh7 8,the ,death of ,socrates10#c painted in #aghg1 now in private possession in ,paris1 enhanced ,david's rapidly growing celebrity not only in ,france1 but abroad4 ,no less a personage than ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 who was then in ,paris1 said that he had studied the picture daily for a week1 and with every inspection found it more perfect4 ,it was1 he said1 8the greatest achievement since ,raffael's frescoes in the ,vatican1 and would have done honor to the ,athenians of the ,periclean age40 ,today1 of course1 this estimate seems an exaggeration to us4 ,the composition is assuredly well planned1 and admirable in many of its aspects3 the youth1 who with averted face hands the poisoned cup to ,socrates1 and the other youth in the background beating his hands against the arch of the doorway4 ,some of the gestures seem theatrical1 however1 and individual figures1 such as the athletic and uninspired ,socrates1 look as though they had been derived from a relief4 ,the composition is too studied2 it lacks feeling4 ,why is it that ,david's great historical compositions are apt to leave us cold1 especially those produced during a period of great spiritual and political turmoil in which his own sympathies were greatly involved8 ,his part in the revolution amply proves the strength of the passions which might have found an outlet in his art4 ,why was he not the realist to dramatize those struggles like ,delacroix who lived fifty years later1 when revolution and world-war were over1 yet who painted battles of all kinds with the most terrific naturalism4 ,the answer lies in this very fact3 ,delacroix never witnessed the battle scenes he reproduced2 they are the fruit of his imagination4 ,it is impossible for a significant realistic art to develop during war and revolution4 ,what one experiences at such times is so horrible that the imagination is stifled rather than stimulated4 ,only insensitive and coarse natures are capable of painting scenes of horror through which they have lived4 ,when1 and as now in our days1 reality weighs all too heavily upon us1 art1 in self defense1 becomes abstract and withdraws itself from reality4 ,it is for this reason that the art of the revolution1 ,david's art1 was stylized and cool3 the artist perforce took refuge from the horrors of reality in the kingdom of his imagination4 ,his art1 like the poetry and oratory of the day1 was idealistic in trend4 ,when ,robespierre delivered those terrible speeches that sent so many human beings to the guillotine1 he spoke slowly1 rhythmically1 in artfully rounded phrases1 as though he were holding an academic discussion4 ,that the great revolutionaries1 among whom we must number ,david1 thought idealistically rather than realistically1 is proved conclusively by their manner of expressing themselves4 ,like all fanatics they lived in a world of dreams and believed their ideas--which seemed to them so splendid--to be either already realized or on the verge of realization4 ,they believed only one last great effort to be necessary1 to achieve--though at the cost of human lives--the freedom of humanity as a whole4 ,this alone can explain why revolutionaries who pursued their ends through rivers of blood1 seem at times inspired with a noble and unexpected humanitarianism2 why they were nearly all tender and devoted men in their private family life4 ,danton idolized his wife and children1 the letters of ,camille ,desmoulins to his bride are beautiful and touching1 and ,robespierre1 the solitary1 the incorruptible1 whose private life was beyond criticism1 was a great lover of nature1 who brought1 we are told1 bunches of wild flowers home with him from his long walks4 ,with the portrayal of ,brutus 7now in the ,louvre71 who1 because of his profound respect for justice permitted the execution of his sons1 we find ourselves on the threshold of the revolution4 ,brutus1 with stern1 dark countenance1 is seated before the ,goddess of ,justice1 while behind him the bodies of his sons are borne across the scene and the grieving mother and sisters cling together in the pillared hall of their dwelling4 ,while today we feel the construction of this picture to be far too studied1 and are inclined to dub it academic1 ,david's intention was directed precisely against the then accepted traditional formulas4 ,whoever dreamed1 said contemporary criticism1 of placing the principal figure in the shadow or planning a composition without regard to the triangular construction8 ,david left the centre of the canvas purposely free4 ,our eyes fall first on a column1 a chair1 a still life arrangement on a table1 frankly at the expense of the composition's unity4 ,the incidentals were drawn with extraordinary care4 ,in order to assure the accuracy of the classic furnishings1 ,david had the cabinet maker1 ,jacob1 make the pieces for him after his own designs4 ,the painting created such an extraordinary sensation that not only did it give the first impetus to the ,parisian vogue for classic furniture1 but women's fashions were definitely influenced by the loosely coifed hair and long flowing garments of the feminine figures4 ,not the least significant part of ,david's contribution to art is the influence he exerted on the decorative arts and on fashion4 ,it is very rare that the influence of a single artist's work on a bygone style can be so clearly measured as in the case of ,david1 from whose art the decorative art of the ,empire period derived4 ,only an artist who is much in the public eye can sway styles1 and ,david became one of the heroes of the day when this composition was exhibited in the ,salon of #aghi--the year whose autumn was to see the outbreak of the revolution4 ,perhaps no other picture has ever played so great a rle in the political and social life of a nation as this work1 which is by no means its author's finest production1 much less among the finest of art history4 ,all of which goes to prove how unreliable popular taste is when it comes to a question of contemporary art4 ,it was of course the subject which evoked such enormous acclaim1 for the very name of ,brutus was one to conjure with where the radical youth of ,paris was concerned4 ,wherever speeches on the new political conceptions were made there was mention of the name of ,rome's deliverer from the yoke of ,caesar1 and from ,mirabeau to ,danton the people loved to connect the name of ,brutus with their heroes4 ,even the opponents of the revolution believed themselves to be inspired by him4 ,when ,charlotte ,corday murdered ,david's friend ,marat1 she declared in prison that she hoped to meet ,brutus in ,elysium4 ,this veneration for antiquity1 which was characteristic of the revolutionary period1 was greatly fostered by ,david's classical compositions4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aa4 ,,michel ,g,,rard ,,and ,,his ,,family 7#aghi7 ,museum1 ,le ,mans ,the narrative of the ,german writer ,halem1#d who visited ,paris the first year of the revolution1 and attended some theatrical presentations1 tells us vividly how familiar the populace was with ,david's painting4 ,he attended a performance of the 8,brutus0 of ,voltaire1 at the ,national ,theater1 and relates that although he got to the ,box ,office at five o'clock in the afternoon1 he had the utmost difficulty in obtaining a seat4 ,he writes1 8,mirabeau stood near me at the ticket office and because of his celebrity was given a place in the fourth balcony4 ,i followed him through the crowd as best ,i could and managed to get a chair in a rented loge4 ,mirabeau's entrance was received with thunderous applause and cries of #8,to the gallery1 ,mirabeau4' ,as he did not respond a deputation waited on him1 the spokesman saying1 #8,the ,french nation demands its ,brutus4' ,he had to give in1 and was borne away to be received in the gallery with rapturous applause4 ,what a triumph when later ,valerius' words to ,brutus1 #8,on you alone all eyes here are turned1 #8,you who broke our chains and gave us the gift of freedom1' were addressed pointedly to him4 ,at the end of the play ,i was amazed to see ,david's painting of ,brutus reproduced on the stage4 ,in speaking ,brutus' last words with which the play closes3 #8,rome now is free4 ,that is enough4 ,the gods be thanked1' ,vanhove1 the leading actor1 assumed the pose of ,david's ,brutus1 and the bodies of his sons were borne across the back of the stage4 ,every ,parisian knows ,david's picture4 ,everyone instantly recognized the intention of publicly honoring the artist through this presentation1 and general applause heightened the celebration40 ,so reads the narrative4 ,what had happened8 ,why this enthusiasm of crowd and intellectuals for a new day8 ,why these celebrations within celebrations8 ,even today1 almost one hundred and fifty years later1 the words 8,french ,revolution0 rouse our blood1 literature is divided into opposing camps by which either the revolution or the monarchy is condemned1 and there are many who hold in abhorrence the events of those days and the theories that brought them into being and believe that the awful bath of blood might have been avoided--as though revolutions were the work of men and not natural occurrences like tidal waves that the individual can neither bring into being nor arrest in their course4 ,in the history of the human race we see again and again how one social stratum after another climbs up1 pushing aside the one that preceded it4 ,when1 as in ,france1 a monarchy and aristocracy has been in power long enough to weaken in its rule because security and luxury have undermined its morale and its strength1 another stratum1 scenting this weakness1 seeks to wrest to itself this power which its fresh and undrained life force fits it more ably to use4 ,in ,france this social stratum was the ,bourgeoisie1 the ,third ,estate1 which from the beginning of the new era--the sixteenth century--had grown strong commercially and illustrious in art and literature1 but had not yet achieved any political rights4 ,the nobility1 however1 preferred to die rather than allow the power which they had held for hundreds of years to pass from their hands--quite naturally1 for the function of government is their only element4 ,so came the unequal battle in which from the beginning the victory was to the young and powerful stratum4 ,to the ruling class form alone was left1 while the class which aspired to rule possessed passion4 ,like all young1 unpractised and fanatical fighters1 their representatives shot far beyond their goal1 and because1 though victors1 they were still unpractised in the use of power1 they abused it1 destroyed senselessly whatever still lived of the old rgime1 and then turned upon each other until the strongest pushed the others aside and became supreme4 ,these strongest among the strong were successively the leaders of the ,constituent and ,legislative ,assemblies3 first ,mirabeau1 later the so-called ,terrorists1 among them ,danton1 ,robespierre and ,marat1 and finally ,napoleon4 ,the democratic idea was victorious in the ,french ,revolution despite ,napoleon1 who1 at first1 embodied this idea in himself1 and whose ,empire was only the short reaction which follows all new experiments4 ,its consequences have persisted to our own day1 when as the revolution's final result one monarchy after another in the ,european scene has gone into eclipse4 ,if we would be just we must admit that during the revolution there were heroes on both sides1 among the monarchists as well as the revolutionaries4 ,among the monarchists--to name a few of the more notable--were the ,king1 the ,queen and ,charlotte ,corday4 ,on the revolutionary side we can muster practically all of the leaders1 who sooner or later almost all perished on the scaffold for their principles1 and we can familiarize ourselves with these men through ,david's portraits4 ,the outward events of the beginning of the revolution are well known4 ,the financial difficulties of the ,government compelled the ,king and his ,advisors to convene the ,states ,general1 which had not met for generations4 ,the elections of the deputies had already roused popular passion1 and when the ,government1 after the ,assembly had convened1 endeavored to establish the old order in which all the power was vested in the upper classes and the ,third ,estate had none1 revolt broke loose4 ,under ,mirabeau's leadership the representatives of the ,third ,estate left the ,assembly1 and met1 for lack of other quarters1 in the ,jeu de ,paume 7the ,tennis ,court71 where they took oath not to dissolve until they had established a new constitution4 ,this 8,oath of the ,tennis ,court0 was immortalized by ,david in a famous composition of which only sketches by ,david and paintings after his cartoon by other artists have been preserved4#e ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ab4 ,,portrait ,,of ,,bar,,re 7#agic7 ,palais1 ,versailles ,it was a year later1 when the ,revolutionary ,assembly had established its power1 that it recalled that great day of the beginning of the revolution and commissioned ,david to paint the picture4 ,it is again the ,german poet ,halem1 who describes the circumstances for us1 in a letter written by him after a visit to the ,jacobin ,club4 ,he writes3 8,after continued speechifying1 ,dubois de ,cranc1 a member of the ,national ,assembly1 rose and recalled to the memory of those present that day on ,june #bjth of the preceding year1 when six hundred harried and unarmed ,deputies1 surrounded1 as he put it1 #8by the ,oriental pomp and the bayonets of despotism1' laid the cornerstone of ,french freedom by the well-known oath of the tennis court at ,versailles4 ,never could he recall this event1 said he1 without his heart beating faster1 without a glow of patriotic feeling4 ,he proposed the formulation of an address to the assembly in which they should be asked to sanction 7#a47 ,that the tennis court1 grave of despotism and cradle of freedom1 be declared a national monument1 closed1 and dedicated to stillness4444 7#b47 ,that the wonderful moment of this first oath be perpetuated by a painting #abj high and #cj wide1 painted by the greatest of the ,french masters1 and hung in the ,national ,convention4 #8,i say1' he continued1 #8by the greatest of the masters1 and to whom else could ,i refer than to him who so nobly depicted ,brutus and the ,oath of the ,horatii8' ,the vaulted hall rang with loud cries of assent4 ,david the painter was present4 ,everyone turned toward him1 and pale with enthusiasm the young man stepped to the orator's platform and thanked the ,assembly in trembling tones for its trust1 which he hoped from his heart to adequately repay1 adding touchingly1 #8,sleep will not visit me for many a night4' 8,then ensued a noble rivalry4 ,abb ,dillon arose first to vindicate his right to appear in the picture among those taking the oath4 ,he was one of the few clerics who had belonged to the ,national ,assembly before the day of the ,oath4 ,at that moment he had been obliged to take charge of the unimportant clerical archives1 and consequently had not been present4 ,he called the members present to witness and his claim was admitted4 ,then arose the ,comte de ,noailles to voice his approval of commemorating the ,oath of those brave citizens4 #8,but1 alas1' said he1 #8the former aristocracy sees itself excluded and how many of us echoed that oath in our hearts4 ,if only the painter could depict us standing in the distance with yearning hearts and the burning wish that we might be among the celebrants of the ,oath4' ,a third stood up and expressed the wish that the suppliants might be included in the picture4 ,a fourth demanded that those wretches who had been present at the ,oath1 but who had later fallen for the good cause be not included4 ,a fifth got up and related a story of ,bailly who after fruitless efforts to calm the mob around the tennis court1 stepped out and commanded silence in the name of the ,national ,assembly4 ,this decision1 this command1 the name of the ,national ,assembly then spoken openly to the people for the first time1 had a great effect1 had quieted the mob and perhaps determined its future mood4 ,the orator asked the painter if he could make use of this incident in his composition4 ,the painter stepped once more to the platform and thanked them all for their remarks1 begging them to remember1 however1 that the picture must have both unity and historical accuracy4 ,he was generally applauded4 ,mirabeau then took the floor and with marvellous adroitness conceded full despotic power to genius such as that of the artist ,david1 and proposed that ,dubois de ,cranc prepare a written petition for the ,national ,assembly4 ,dubois made the excuse that he was about to leave for the country and cries of #8,mirabeau6 ,mirabeau6' resounded4 ,mirabeau understood the call and accepted the formulation of the address4 ,he read it at one of the next sittings and the master's hand was recognized40 ,so much for the account of the eyewitness4 ,david exhibited the cartoon for 8,the ,oath of the ,tennis ,court0 in the ,salon of #agia and on ,barre's proposal the ,national ,assembly voted that the painting be carried out at the cost of the ,state and be hung in the ,national ,convention as an incentive to zeal4 ,in the ,catalogue of the ,exhibition ,david had stated that it was not his intention to make likenesses of the members of the ,national ,assembly4 ,how easily1 nevertheless1 the ,parisian public recognized the various personalities and what a sensation the composition made is proved by the fact that ,barre practically became a personage through the fact that ,david portrayed him writing1 in the left foreground1 near the principal group--placing on paper for posterity the tale of the great event4 ,barre's not too inspired journal1 ,point du ,jour1 became from that moment a much sought-after sheet4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ac4 ,,lavoisier ,,and ,,his ,,wife 7#aghg7 ,private ,collection1 ,new ,york ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ad4 ,,mme4 ,,de ,,richmond ,,and ,,her ,,son 7c4 #ahjj7 ,collection of ,mr4 ,edward ,j4 ,berwind1 ,new ,york ,despite the many characteristic types1 ,david's composition 8,the ,oath of the ,tennis ,court0 is essentially in the monumental style in which quite justly details are subordinated to the spirit of the whole4 ,the thronging crowd stands out against the bare walls of the ,tennis ,court1 in a clearly defined linear pattern1 built up by the myriad outstretched hands4 ,the figures are all filled with a mighty dramatic force4 ,bailly1 the president1 in the centre1 stands like a statue of bronze4 ,for the first time ,david shook himself free of historical subjects1 depicted a contemporary event and proved himself well able to adapt his idealistic style to such a theme4 ,in this simplified idiom he attained the expression of a dignified1 rhetorical passion which he was unable to encompass to a like degree in his historical subjects1 and the lofty idealism of the composition speaks well for the sincerity and intensity of his convictions4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #af4 ,,marat 7,drawing7 ,study for the painting in ,brussels ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ag4 ,,danton 7,from drawing in the ,museum1 ,lille7 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ae4 ,,le ,,pelletier 7,from the engraving in the ,louvre7 ,the radical ,jacobin ,club1 whose members had pledged themselves so enthusiastically to the promotion of his art1 became thereafter one of his favorite haunts4 ,because1 as an artist1 he was not particularly judicious politically he allowed himself to be influenced by the extremists whose biting logic is often more compelling to temperamental laymen than are more moderate councils4 ,david had1 as his whole career clearly proves1 a rarely fine instinct for the elementary forces in political and social life1 and those to whom he now turned1 the representatives of the 8,mountain0--to whom ,marat1 ,danton and ,robespierre belonged--were as a matter of fact the strongest personalities on whom leadership was soon to devolve4 ,thanks to them he was elected to the ,national ,assembly in #agib4 ,he never assumed any leading part1 for a defect in his speech interfered with his public speaking1 but he often gave vent to his enthusiasm only by loud cries of assent4 ,for the rest his contribution lay in the field of art4 ,he busied himself with cartoons for monumental paintings1 with monuments1 with arranging national festivals1 sketching classical costumes for all the functionaries1 and in organizing the artist world1 always1 we must admit1 from an idealistic standpoint4 ,he has been much criticised for the fact that he concurred in the ,king's execution1 and later in ,danton's4 ,in the condemnation of the ,king1 however1 he followed his party2 in ,danton's case his reasons were personal4 ,the principal oration against the ,king at his trial in #agic was made by ,barre1 the lawyer1 who advocated ,david's composition to the ,national ,assembly1 and whom ,david later immortalized as historiographer in his work4 ,david painted a masterly portrait of him delivering the ,impeachment of ,louis ,,xvi 7,fig4 #ab74 ,in the composition which lies before him on the parapet is written the beginning of the famous speech which ends with the words1 8,the ,tree of ,liberty could not grow were it not watered with the blood of ,kings40 ,barre1 good-looking and a clever orator1 was not among the nobler of the revolutionaries4 ,he belongs to that very small group of revolutionary leaders who did not themselves become sacrifices1 but outlived the revolution in all its phases and held public office even in the times of reaction under ,napoleon and the ,bourbons4 ,the ,abbe ,sieys was another of this group4 ,he was from the very first a representative of the ,third ,estate and achieved some reputation under ,napoleon4 ,david1 too1 whose art safeguarded him among the dangers of the revolution1 belongs to them4 ,both ,sieys1 whose clerical frock was his protection1 and ,david were helped by the fact that they knew how to stand aloof4 ,barre1 however1 was the type of politician who trims his sails to meet the wind and uses his sagacity to judge not where right but where might is and then diplomatically allies himself to it in order to always be in the vanguard of events4 ,his accusations against the ,king only expressed the general feeling of the people whom he strove to please4 ,true1 this general sentiment would not have been possible had not the monarchy for years been its own worst enemy and made of itself a laughing stock4 ,there is1 indeed1 no excuse for political murder4 ,the ,king merited the guillotine as little as did thousands of others on both sides who were sacrificed to it on account of their political opinions4 ,that ,louis ,,xvi was arraigned before a tribunal of his people1 however1 was in part at least the fault of the monarchy itself4 ,this particular ,king possessed very few of those qualities which a nation expects from its sovereign4 ,it is one of ,fate's most remarkable ironies that ,louis ,,xvi had every desire to be democratic--but his manner of so being was unfortunate to a degree4 ,the story runs that as nineteen year old ,dauphin he used to pursue the servants laden with soiled laundry in order to tickle them under the arms1 and as ,king the blacksmith's hammer and anvil were his favorite diversions4 ,the young and charming ,marie ,antoinette found it hard to accustom herself to a clumsy husband with soiled hands who emerged red-faced from his smithy and approached her affectionately4 ,it happened that did the ,king espy from a window masons working in the courtyard below he would run down with rolled-up sleeves to assist them4 ,there is a certain kind of good nature that is inappropriate to ,princes4 ,his portraits show him as having a clumsy1 phlegmatic figure and plain1 not too intelligent features4 ,a typical representative of a doomed caste1 he lacked any energy to stem misfortune1 any originality or appreciation of the new conceptions of the day4 ,it seems as though a curse rests on people of this type1 that everything they do tends only to make their situation worse1 as though they help to bring about their own destruction4 ,what weakness when in the hour of the greatest danger ,louis writes to his brother1 the ,comte d',artois3 8,i have revoked the orders that ,i gave4 ,my troops will abandon ,paris1 and ,i will use more gentle means4 ,don't speak to me of a ,coup d'tat1 a display of force4 ,i feel it is wiser to wait for the storm to abate1 and to expect everything from time1 from the awakening of right-thinking people and the love of the ,french nation for their ,king40 ,ideas of this kind never arrested a revolution6 ,it was fortunate for him that his phlegmatic temperament could find refuge in prayer4 ,this quality helped him to meet death with resolution but was of small service to the caste he represented4 ,the times were too violent for ,christian temperaments such as the ,king's4 ,once when ,david received a commission for a portrayal of ,christ1 and his patron remarked subsequently that the figure looked more like ,cato1 ,david's reply was3 8,the times are not favorable for ,christendom40 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ah4 ,,madame ,,seriziat ,,and ,,son 7#agie7 ,louvre1 ,paris ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ai4 ,,monsieur ,,seriziat 7#agie7 ,louvre1 ,paris ,the ,king1 however1 continued to rely on the love of the ,french for their monarch4 ,as a matter of fact this sentiment was centuries old and had persisted until the early years of his reign1 but the aristocracy had helped by derision and calumny to destroy all veneration for the monarchy1 poets and writers sowed doubts as to the efficacy of this form of government1 and the nation began to lose its age-old respect as the ,king's weaknesses became apparent4 ,it is common prejudice that ,princes on account of their eminent position should be different and more distinguished than the common run of mortals1 although history proves that notable personalities are as rare on the throne as in other walks of life4 ,if a ruler is gifted1 he can allow himself to come into contact with his people2 if1 as in most cases1 he is not1 he is better advised to allow himself to be admired from afar4 ,louis ,,xvi1 however1 did just the opposite4 ,we know what undignified scenes took place when the mob on several occasions penetrated the palace4 ,an innkeeper stepped up to the ,king and spoke to him saying1 after the ,king's reply1 8,you did well to give me a civil answer1 otherwise ,i'd have made you headwaiter in my inn tomorrow40 ,if the ,king had given this rascal the blow in the face he deserved1 he might have been spared his long martyrdom with the scaffold at the end4 ,instead1 however1 he went up to another ruffian who had thrust a red cap on his head1 and who seemed to be stumbling drunkenly against a door and helped him to open it4 ,even on the scaffold he wanted to help the executioner cut off his hair4 ,the cool fashion in which he went to meet his doom1 at least1 merits our admiration4 ,an ,american historian has fittingly remarked3 8,the unruffled dignity with which he met death was the finest act of his reign40 ,posterity has devoted much sympathy to ,marie ,antoinette whose portraits by ,vige ,le,brun 7,fig4 #be7 and other court painters are familiar to all art lovers4 ,although she1 too1 was by no means an outstanding ruler her life is particularly rich in human and touching incidents4 ,her very weaknesses are those which arouse one's sympathy4 ,who could blame the young ,princess1 brought to ,paris from ,vienna at the age of fifteen1 that she remained in tutelage to her mother and sought her advice8 ,but this very relationship which resulted when misfortune overtook her1 in an appeal for help to the foreign courts1 brought about her downfall4 ,who can fail to understand that the lovely and vivacious ,marie ,antoinette1 surrounded by the pleasure-loving society of ,paris1 and tied to a dull husband to whom1 nevertheless1 she remained faithful1 should have looked about her for congenial friends4 ,it was this1 however1 that gave rise in court circles to those calumnies which so injured her reputation among her subjects and finally ruined her--calumnies founded only on gossip1 not on facts4 ,who could blame her for finding burdensome the exaggerated etiquette of the ,french court1 the public dinner of the ,king and ,queen once a week1 the ridiculous ceremonies of the lever1 the crowd which attended even the birth of her children4 ,and why should this inexperienced ,queen have been held answerable for extravagant expenditures for gowns and festivities when her predecessors had spent just as much and the money was always given with the ,king's approval8 ,her only faults were inexperience and lack of caution4 ,unfortunately1 when her husband proved himself unfit1 she essayed1 to her undoing1 to take the political reins in her own hands4 ,in her endeavour to save herself and her family she allowed her feminine sympathies and antipathies to influence her politically and so made matters worse4 ,the price she paid for her mistakes was terrific4 ,in all the history of royalty there is hardly a more terrible plunge from the pinnacle of power and wealth to the depths of misery4 ,art and culture never bloomed more luxuriantly in ,france than in the early years of ,marie ,antoinette's reign4#f ,the most exquisite taste pervaded the mode and was displayed at court functions2 the furniture1 ornaments1 bronzes and porcelains designed for ,marie ,antoinette are among the most delightful productions of ,french decorative art2 the great ,french painters of the ,rococo period--,boucher1 ,fragonard and ,hubert ,robert--were still alive1 as well as the sculptors ,houdon1 ,falconet and ,clodion4 ,it was natural that the young ,queen should have preferred this art to ,david's with its cold1 stern quality and sombre1 tragic motifs2 that she ignored revolutionary literature1 preferring to amuse herself with charming ,italian operas or the music of ,gluck which she introduced to ,france4 ,that all this splendour collapsed suddenly with the revolution was not the most serious thing that faced the ,queen--misfortune pursued her into her most intimate family life4 ,she1 who loved her children above all else and who1 when the gathering disasters grew closer and closer to her husband1 saw the collapse of one pillar after another of her very existence4 ,her youngest child died in his eleventh month4 ,the ,dauphin1 a gifted and charming lad of seven1 sickened4 ,how could the mother who lay sobbing across the death-bed of her son at ,meudon worry over the gathering storms in ,paris through which pealed the knell announcing the ,dauphin's death8 ,then came the days when the mob hung threateningly around the palace and forced her to leave ,versailles for ,paris in its triumphant train4 ,when the populace stormed the ,tuilleries and she feared for the fate of her other children how deeply offended was the dignity which she possessed in the same measure that the ,king lacked it4 ,when the ,royal family were brought back from their unlucky flight to ,varennes amid the abuse and insults of the mob1 the ,king accepted it all with his usual calm and even tried to converse with his followers4 ,the ,queen1 on the contrary1 suffered so horribly under the humiliation that her hair turned white over night4 ,this1 however1 was but the beginning4 ,then came the parting with the ,king who was led to the scaffold 7,january #ba1 #agic72 there was the even more painful parting with her children1 and the torture of almost a year in prison without news of them1 within sight of the bloody heads which1 like that of her friend the ,princesse de ,lamballe1 were carried past her window on pikes4 ,when she was haled before the ,tribunal1 where she made answer calmly to all accusations1 she was but a shadow of herself4 ,david made a drawing of her on her way to the scaffold 7,october #af1 #agic7--;a horrifying sketch 7,fig4 #i74 ,does there perhaps speak from it the injured vanity of an artist whose work had once been ignored by this former ,queen8 ,what a study in contrasts6 ,this was she who only a few years previously had been the lovely model for the most charming portrait of the court painters4 ,marie ,antoinette was executed during the 8reign of terror10 so-called1 the sanguinary and precarious years #agic-id4 ,following the results of the revolution and its excesses all ,europe had combined against ,france1 and only the utmost concentration of internal forces made victory against such a coalition possible4 ,the ,national ,convention placed the direction of affairs in the hands of a committee of nine1 among whom were ,danton1 ,robespierre1 ,marat and ,st4 ,just1 and this ,committee saved ,france4 ,they formed and sent into the field the volunteer armies which1 at first unorganized1 gradually obtained ascendancy over the experienced coalition troops and finally drove them from the field4 ,everything that might work injury to the troops at the front was ruthlessly put aside4 ,hundreds of aristocrats followed the ,king and ,queen to the scaffold4 ,murder was the order of the day and thinned out not only the friends of the old rgime1 but also the ranks of the revolutionaries themselves4 ,the earliest of these to fall in connection with the ,king's execution was ,le ,pelletier1 formerly the ,comte de ,st4 ,fargeau1 a member of the ,convention1 who was murdered by a member of the ,king's body-guard on the eve of the execution of the ,king1 on ,january #bj1 #agic1 because he had voted for the ,king's death4 ,busts of ,le ,pelletier and ,brutus were placed in the ,palace of ,justice1 and ,david quickly completed a fine painting of the victim which he offered to the ,convention in the following terms3 8,fellow ,citizens1 each one of us is responsible to the ,fatherland for those gifts which nature has bestowed on us2 diverse though their expression may be1 the goal is the same for us all4 ,every true patriot should use every means to inspire his fellow citizens and bring before them at all times the great examples of heroism and virtue4 ,i am moved by these thoughts in offering to the ,national ,convention the painting of ,michel ,le ,pelletier who was murdered in cowardly fashion because he voted for a tyrant's death40 ,unfortunately this painting has been lost4 ,le ,pelletier's descendants1 into whose possession it passed1 were ,royalists1 and hid the painting1 destroying the plates and all the engravings which had been made from it4 ,the reproduction 7,fig4 #ae7 was made from the only existing impression in the ,cabinet of ,engravings in the ,louvre4 ,the composition is conceived in the grand and austere manner which characterized ,david's work in these days of terror and fanatically exaggerated idealism4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bj4 ,,marat 7#agic7 ,museum1 ,brussels ,before six months were up another assassination1 this time of one of the leaders of the revolution--,marat--roused the members of the ,convention and the populace to the utmost4 ,hardly had the news spread abroad before one of the members of the ,convention arose crying3 8,where art thou1 ,david8 ,you made a portrait of ,le ,pelletier for posterity when he died for his country1 now the occasion has arisen for another work40 8,this too ,i will do10 ,david answered1 and produced one of his most moving compositions 7,figs4 #af and #bj74 ,it is planned with great power and simplicity1 and filled with deep and tragic feeling1 for ,marat was his friend4 ,nothing has aroused more astonishment than this friendship of ,david's for ,marat who has been regarded as the bloodthirsty instigator of the horrors and deviltries of the revolution4 ,if we look into the matter more closely1 however1 we must recognize in ,marat qualities which explain the esteem of men like ,david4 ,he had remarkable philosophic and scientific gifts4 ,while his enemies described him as a quack doctor1 or1 as ,carlisle erroneously states1 a veterinary1 as a matter of fact his professional contributions as an oculist were so remarkable that some of his writings have been reprinted even of late years4 ,before the revolution he was the most celebrated oculist of the aristocracy1 and the ,comte d',artois1 later ,charles ,x1 had appointed him as his personal physician at a salary of two thousand pounds4 ,his philosophical writings1 such as the three volume ,essays on ,man which appeared in ,english and ,french1 achieved a reputation for him abroad4 ,although he did not become a member of the ,french ,academy1 on account of his disagreement with ,voltaire and his attack on ,newton1 no less a person than ,goethe expressed himself concerning this injustice4 ,benjamin ,franklin1 too1 was among those who visited ,marat and were interested in his experiments in physics4 ,on the outbreak of the revolution he abandoned his career as doctor and scholar to develop an astonishing public zeal founded on his passion for the new ideas4 ,he influenced the development of the new forms of government in no small measure1 advised against copying the ,english constitution with which he had familiarized himself during a stay in ,england1 and opposed all who attempted to assume ,dictatorship1 even ,mirabeau1 then ,lafayette and later ,general ,dumouriez1 whose treason he foresaw before ,dumouriez went over to the ,austrians and the ,girondists4 ,he voted for the condemnation of the ,king1 whom he accused of treason to his country1 but advised against his condemnation for events which happened prior to the revolution4 ,that he was not so bloodthirsty as his opponents would have us believe is proved by his insistence that ,malesherbes1 the king's advisor1 should not be condemned with him as he was 8a wise and venerable old man40 ,how many of the wild imprecations which were published against his enemies1 and particularly against the nobility in his journal ,l',ami du ,peuple may be laid at his door1 is a question4 ,this paper was suppressed at various times1 and while ,marat was in hiding it appeared with distorted versions of his opinions given out by his enemies or supposed friends1 in the endeavour to bring discredit on him4 ,the really established facts concerning him place him in no unfavorable light4 ,he opposed the ,girondists because he opposed a foreign war1 from which he felt not only the ,monarchists but those ,radicals who worked in the dark like the ,girondists hoped to draw advantage1 and which he felt might result in the establishment of a military dictatorship4 ,he foresaw the ,september murders1 and demanded the establishment of a tribunal for the prisoners4 ,this was not done1 and the murders consequently took place4 ,true his impassioned pen evoked death and destruction upon his opponents1 but he was persecuted all his life and his enemies retaliated in kind4 ,more than once he fled from death1 hiding for weeks at a time in cellars and in sewers and contracting from lack of nourishment all sorts of bodily ills which his iron energy enabled him to disregard4 ,ill1 unable to attend the ,convention1 although working all day long1 he sought relief in hot baths where he wrote by placing a board across the bath for his books and papers4 ,with1 in any case1 but a short time to live1 he fell victim to the murderer's knife in the hands of an eccentric and talented young noblewoman1 ,charlotte ,corday1 who hoped to end the revolution by murdering ,marat1 whereas her deed had exactly the opposite effect4 ,she belonged to the ,girondist circles whose persecution followed the outbreak of the war and whose suppression ,marat demanded when at first victory seemed doubtful4 ,marat was unquestionably a true friend of the people and his published and spoken convictions were utterly sincere4 ,in spite of his powerful and completely independent position1 for he was affiliated with no particular party1 he rejected every salaried position1 every political distinction and lived in the poorest circumstances1 the very bathtub which he used and which later attained a sort of celebrity as a curiosity being borrowed from a neighbor4 ,he received petitioners without number1 and endeavoured in the 8,letterbox0 of his paper1 which he was the first to introduce1 to answer the countless questions put by the people4 ,charlotte ,corday only obtained an interview with him after several unsuccessful attempts1 by pretending that she was seeking help for a widow with five children4 ,the paper which ,marat holds in his hand in ,david's picture was sent in by her to obtain admission1 and not without reason or effect has the artist made these words legible3 8#ac ,july1 #agic1 ,charlotte ,corday to ,citizen ,marat40 8,to be unfortunate is to be sure of your assistance40 ,an order for #be francs which ,marat had made out for the widow in whose name ,charlotte ,corday sought his aid lies on the stool in the foreground4 ,her dagger seems to have found him while he affixed his signature to it4 ,this composition is among ,david's finest achievements in its combination of very simple forms and great expressiveness4 ,we almost feel the corpse still lives1 still breathes4 ,the most touching naturalness is combined with a truly heroic style comparable to that of ,france's great tragic poets1 such as ,racine and ,corneille4 ,if we remember that at the time this picture was painted1 the elegant ,rococo painters were still producing their piquant compositions1 we recognize that in art as in life a new era had dawned1 an art founded on entirely new conceptions1 which built its compositions with large and massive forms and sought again those depths of inspiration which had entirely disappeared from the art of the court painters4 ,david painted still another composition as propaganda for his political ideals4 ,a thirteen-year-old drummer boy1 ,joseph ,bara1 fell in the battles in the ,vendee in ,december1 #agic1 and ,david was commissioned by the ,convention to immortalize the death of this young hero of the ,republic4 ,this painting1 now in the ,museum at ,avignon1 although unfinished1 and very simple in conception1 has many charming qualities4 ,french writers have particularly praised the purity and elegance of the drawing and the beauty of the youthful form2 and in fact the swelling rhythmic line and vivacity of the bodily forms are very pleasing4 ,if1 however1 we analyse the essentially novel quality in this art1 it lies in the reduction of the composition to its bare essentials1 combined with a deepened expressiveness4 ,the scene of the battle in which the boy fell is only lightly indicated4 ,in the background are clouds which might be cannon smoke1 and far to one side the disappearing form of a standard bearer4 ,the boy presses the republican cockade to his breast with one hand--there is no other indication of the day's realities--everything else is universal1 idealistic4 ,the nakedness1 the boy's idealized features1 the wide empty spaces of the background with its suggestion of a hill--everything is concentrated on the suffering and inspiration which speak from the lines of the body4 ,the moment of transition from life to death--which to be sure the friends of the revolution had ample chance of observing--is wonderfully depicted4 ,we feel the trembling of the body1 the lift of the breast1 the stiffening of the mouth and of the half-closed eyes4 ,the curious color scheme of the painting1 the thin sulphur yellow background1 the pale blue shadows in the figure1 the luxuriant dark brown hair and the brightly colored cockade--contrive a curious effect4 ,close bonds of friendship united ,david to ,danton and ,robespierre1 the two other leaders of the ,reign of ,terror1 as well as to ,marat--although this applies only to the early days where ,danton is concerned4 ,the break with him is one of the episodes in the painter's life which is most difficult to explain although ,david can hardly have been alone to blame1 for ,danton's violent nature was prone in moments of passion to transform friends into foes4 ,it is unfortunate1 however1 that ,david did not exhibit more independence in his political opinions1 and that even though he allowed himself to be dragged in ,robespierre's train1 he helped in the downfall of this most stirring of the revolutionary heroes4 ,the varying attitudes of revolutionary critics make it even harder to evaluate ,danton's personality and contribution than that of ,marat4 ,unlike ,marat he was no knight of the pen1 but a man of words and deeds1 living fiercely in the passions of the moment1 and always at his best in the times of greatest difficulty4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ba4 ,,st4 ,,just 7#agib7 ,private ,possession1 ,paris ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bb4 ,,self ,,portrait 7#agid7 ,louvre1 ,paris ,the personal documents which give us intimate glimpses of the personalities of the other revolutionary leaders are entirely lacking in ,danton's case4 ,he was too impulsive for this form of expression1 or1 in his leisure moments1 too lazy4 ,his portraits give one an impression of the strength and softness1 obstinacy and good nature1 energy and procrastination1 which characterized this hero of the revolution whose dramatic fate has been the inspiration of many a poet4 ,his career was short but glorious4 ,he rose like a meteor from the obscurity of a provincial law practice to a dominating position1 and during the years #agib to #agid his powerful figure was in the foreground and associated with every important event4 ,his opponents accused him of cruelty and dishonesty4 ,it is undeniable that he occasionally indulged his wild impulse to destroy those that opposed him1 as witness his speech1 8,revolutions cannot be carried out on tea40 ,although the ,september murders occurred during his day1 his guilt lies rather in not preventing them1 than in any instigation of them4 ,he was occupied at that time with the formation of the volunteer army1 and the monument erected to his memory by the ,city of ,paris in the eighties1 which depicts him inspiring the citizens with flaming words to departure for the tottering front1 was well deserved4 ,whatever the faults of his stormy and excitable nature1 he did more than any other to save his country in a moment of grave danger4 ,so far as his dishonesty is concerned1 he seems now and then to have dealt not all too accurately with ,state and private property1 but his patriotism was none the less sincere4 ,we must remember that not all active natures can live on nothing1 like ,marat and ,robespierre1 and that a powerful physical constitution demands other recreations4 ,danton had far more love of life than the dry ,robespierre1 and liked to be surrounded by his men and women friends4 ,he finally1 to the horror of some historians1 acquired a small country property where he hoped1 his labours over1 to retire with wife and children1 an ambition destined never to be fulfilled4 ,there is in the ,museum at ,troyes a portrait by ,david of ,danton's first wife1#g the brave ,gabrielle1 a healthy1 capable and intelligent housewife with black eyes and rosy cheeks--a true type of the new ,bourgeoisie4 ,she seems to have been as cheerful as she was kind1 and gave ,danton several children to whom he was tenderly attached4 ,she was destined not to see his downfall4 ,when in ,february1 #agic1 he returned from the ,belgian front1 he found that his wife had died and been buried several days previously4 ,it is characteristic both of his love for her and his untamed nature that seven days after her death he had both grave and coffin opened up1 embraced the corpse and commissioned a sculptor friend to make a death mask and a bust of her4 ,his friends had great difficulty in saving him from an emotional breakdown4 ,even the cool ,robespierre sought to comfort him in the most feeling manner in a letter in which he pledges him his devotion and friendship unto death4 ,how quickly and how passionately they lived1 these revolutionaries6 ,a couple of months later ,danton married a sixteen-year-old girl1 and a year after that1 ,robespierre1 who had promised--and undoubtedly with sincere conviction--to be true to him till death1 brought him to the guillotine4 ,the dual rule of two temperaments so opposed as ,danton's and ,robespierre's could not endure for long4 ,one cannot conceive a greater contrast than that between the robust ,danton1 who loudly proclaimed his every thought and the elegant frail ,robespierre who was all self-control and deliberation4 ,how clever and calculating an actor ,robespierre was is shown by the account of his attempted murder by a young girl after the manner of ,marat's4 ,the attempt failed4 ,the crowd surged up the stairs to his room to congratulate him4 ,robespierre was seated in a corner calmly peeling an orange4 ,without a word he looked sternly at the intruding crowd1 till in embarrassment they crept away4 ,in his place ,danton undoubtedly would have launched into an impassioned speech of thanks4 ,robespierre and his friend ,st4 ,just 7,fig4 #ba7 are both men of pleasing appearance--almost good-looking as compared to ,danton's ugly bull-dog countenance4 ,they were1 especially ,robespierre1 who wore a wig and sword to the last1 neat and even elegant in their dress1 which differed sharply from ,danton's almost gypsy-like effect4 ,unfortunately the 8,titan0--so accustomed was he to towering above his opponents in the ,convention and pelting them with his ,shakespearian witticisms--underestimated his puny but quick-witted and accurate opponent1 ,robespierre1 and before he realized it1 he had met his doom4 ,just as ,danton was about to mitigate the rigours of the ,convention's procedure1 just as he hoped to take things a bit more easily personally1 came his impeachment--plotted so subtly by ,robespierre and his helper ,st4 ,just that there was no escape4 ,so desperate a fight did the giant put up1 however1 for himself and his friends that it hung by a thread that his accusers might find themselves ruined in his stead4 ,after a number of most dubious witnesses had testified against ,danton1 ,st4 ,just felt it wiser to deny him all defence by having the ,court decide that anyone who conducted himself so offensively toward his judges as ,danton1 could be condemned without further hearing4 ,danton's mere presence was enough to dismay the jury1 who1 moreover1 were not really convinced of his guilt4 ,when they retired1 a rumor went about that he had been acquitted4 ,his accusers1 thereupon1 rushed to the jury room and forced the rebellious members to submission4 ,it is here that our artist1 who was a devoted admirer of ,robespierre1 appears in no favorable light4 ,he pressed about the jury with other members of the ,convention1 and the report runs1 called out to those who were still hesitating1 8,do you still believe ,danton innocent8 ,has he not already been judged by public opinion8 ,only cowards could so conduct themselves60 ,what a fine argument66 ,one member of the jury burst into sobs1 and1 as he could not bring himself to vote for ,danton's impeachment1 he was asked3 8,who is more useful to the ,republic1 ,robespierre or ,danton80 8,robespierre10 replied the juryman sobbing4 8,then ,danton must go to the guillotine10 was the response4 ,then came the day of the execution with its procession of three wagons1 each bearing five or six condemned prisoners1 and towering above them all1 ,danton looking proudly over the heads of the throng4 ,the procession passed the little ,caf de ,parnasse where1 once upon a time1 he had met his ,gabrielle2 then the ,caf de la ,regence1 and whom did he see there8 ,it is hard to believe4 ,there sat his former friend1 the traitorous ,david1 busily making a drawing of him 7perhaps the drawing in the museum at ,lille1 ,fig4 #ag74 8,lackey60 ,danton called to him in scorn4 ,next1 as the procession passed ,robespierre's house1 ,danton called out1 8,you will soon follow me6 ,your house will be torn down1 and men will cast salt upon the earth where it stood40 ,danton tried to the last to cheer the friends around him--the ordinarily merry ,camille ,desmoulins who was grieving over his bride1 ,lucille2 the poet ,fabre1 who affirmed that one of his accusers1 who was also a poet1 would doubtless steal his unprinted manuscripts and publish them under his own name4 8,soon that will no longer worry you10 said ,danton to him4 ,the executions were quickly under way4 ,the sun was setting1 and ,danton's giant figure was silhouetted darkly against the evening sky4 ,one of his friends wanted to embrace him but the executioner would not permit it4 ,he wanted to finish his task before sundown4 8,idiot10 said ,danton to him1 8,will you be able to prevent our heads from kissing each other in the basket80 ,for one moment he flinched when he thought of his young wife1 8,my beloved1 shall ,i never see you again80 ,then1 with an effort1 he exclaimed1 8,come ,danton1 let there be no weakness10 and to the executioner1 8,show my head to the people4 ,it is worth it40 ,these were his last words4 ,the curse uttered by ,danton as he passed ,robespierre's house was fulfilled all too quickly4 ,before five months were up1 ,robespierre trod the same path1 and the wagon was halted before his house to let the deposed ,dictator see the mob in its fury sprinkling his door with the blood of a slaughtered ox4 ,and now the earth began to tremble under ,david's feet4 ,he was to the last a devoted adherent of ,robespierre4 ,when the latter on the eve of his fall read to the ,jacobins his defence which ended with the words1 8,i am ready to drink the poisoned cup10 ,david cried out 8,we will drink it with you40 ,he must have been thinking of his portrayal of the death of ,socrates1 but he probably hardly realized how imminent was the fall of the last great leader of the revolution and how very nearly he himself was involved in that fall4 ,david1 as we know1 did not complete his painting of ,bara4 ,this was because he was planning for the ,convention a festival in honor of the fallen drummer boy4 ,he was a great master in the arrangement of such celebrations4 ,with their carefully designed costumes1 massed choirs1 improvised statues and profusion of flowers and patriotic orations1 they must have been astonishingly impressive1 comparable only to the national festivals of the ,roman ,empire4 ,unfortunately these artistic manifestations of the revolution1 which constituted an appreciable part of ,david's life work1 were in their nature transitory4 ,david had set the date of the ,bara festival for the #ajth ,thermidor 7,july #bf1 #agid74 ,this was the very day of ,robespierre's downfall1 and his execution took place two days later4 ,through this coincidence of date--or had ,david been warned8--he did not attend the sitting of the ,convention on the #ajth ,thermidor4 ,had he done so1 he would undoubtedly have been arrested and guillotined with ,robespierre's other adherents4 ,when he came into the ,convention hall three days later he was denounced by ,andr ,dumont and obliged to defend himself4 ,he probably believed the end had come4 ,he was no orator1 and his defect of speech made things still harder for him4 ,he stood there1 pale and fearful1 and it is said a nervous perspiration so dewed his forehead that it dripped down his coat to the floor4 ,where now was the courage with which he had offered to die with ,robespierre2 with which when ,marat was attacked in the ,convention he had once exclaimed3 8,kill me in his place60 ,yes1 it was undoubtedly easier to make drawings of one's enemies and former friends on their road to the guillotine than to defend one's life before a tribunal of the people4 ,he made so pitiful an impression that they let him go4 ,two days later1 however1 it was thought wiser to arrest him4 ,at first his sentence was light and he was allowed to work1 but soon1 after another stormy session of the ,convention1 he was transferred to the ,luxembourg4 ,his imprisonment lasted five months4 ,toward the end1 conditions were again made easier and he was allowed to work4 ,then he was set free1 and again1 this time at the instigation of his fellow artists1 imprisoned for months4 ,finally during the general amnesty at the end of the year #agie he again obtained his freedom4 ,this was the end of his political activities4 ,the terrible months of uncertainty during his imprisonment1 when death so often stared him in the face1 must have been a time of spiritual growth for him1 for they resulted in his painting a marvellous series of portraits4 ,his achievement at this time1 and during the following years when the revolution slowly ebbed1 is the greatest of his artistic career4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bc4 ,,woman ,,of ,,the ,,revolution 7#agie7 ,museum1 ,lyon ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bd4 ,,napoleon ,,as ,,first ,,consul 7#agig7 ,private ,possession1 ,paris ,there is first of all a portrait depicting the artist at the period of his imprisonment 7,fig4 #bb74 ,it is seldom that a self portrait expresses so vividly the perplexities of a period of terror as do the haunted eyes of this young fanatic4 ,these eyes have been called evil1 and ,david himself described as a good artist but an evil man4 ,the moral equipment of the revolutionaries cannot be summarized in such simple fashion1 however4 ,david's political opponents hit nearer the mark when they called him to the defence of ,marat1 8,what does that prove so far as ,marat is concerned8 ,only the devotion of an honorable man who is allowing himself to be carried away by excitement40 ,that ,david's political life was so passionate1 may be due in part to the youthful violence of his friends4 ,nearly all the revolutionary leaders were in their early thirties1 an age which is apt to be the stormy period of a man's life4 ,old people do not bring about revolutions4 ,david1 to be sure1 was forty at the time of its outbreak1 but see how youthful he still looked2 and the unspent store of his strength is proved by the great age to which he lived4 ,he painted another important work during his imprisonment--a little landscape of the ,luxembourg ,gardens as seen from his window 7now in the ,louvre71 one of the first modern realistic landscapes which seem to foreshadow ,courbet's efforts4 ,the eighteenth-century conception of landscape was very different4 ,the landscapes were like theatrical scenery1 built up with carefully divided 8wings40 ,here1 for the first time1 a ,french artist dared to paint an unpromising bit of earth exactly as he saw it1 with all nature's accidental qualities4 ,a garden fence in the middle runs diagonally across the picture1 while over in one corner is an avenue of trees which should conventionally have been in the center of the canvas--no planned symmetrical construction1 no coulisses in the foreground4 ,here1 too1 was a break with tradition--a new beginning4 ,the two portraits of ,monsieur and ,madame ,seriziat 7,figs4 #ah and #ai71 painted by ,david while he was still under arrest1 are particularly illuminating as regards his personality4 ,how could an artist1 above whose head the sword of ,damocles still hung1 paint such sunny and optimistic portraits8 ,we would1 in fact1 appreciate only one side of ,david if we think of him always as the stern ,roman1 never as the light-hearted ,frenchman4 ,from the beginning to the end of his artistic career1 side by side with his classic compositions and his moving revolutionary portrayals 7,fig4 #bc71 he painted a series of charming portraits which prove that through all the horrors of the revolution he never lost his ,gallic light-heartedness or his feeling for grace4 ,at the beginning of the series stands the pleasing portrait of ,vige ,le,brun1 painted in #agic1 and at the end1 the famous portrait of ,madame ,recamier painted in #ahjj4 ,in these works there is still an echo of eighteenth century elegance1 a trace of that esprit and glamour which always distinguishes the best of ,french art4 ,yet the forms1 the simple outlines1 the wide empty spaces of the background and the flatness of the treatment is wholly new4 ,and besides in these portraits we find for the first time representations of the ,bourgeoisie which replace those of the aristocracy of the eighteenth century and whose best types became henceforth the patrons of art which in former days the courts had been4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #be4 ,,portrait ,,of ,,vig,e ,,lebrun 7#agic7 ,museum1 ,rouen ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bf4 ,,madame ,,recamier 7#ahjj7 ,louvre1 ,paris ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bg4 ,,ingres ,,as ,a ,,boy 7c4 #agie7 ,private ,collection1 ,paris ,scarcely a year had passed since ,david's escape from prison when his freedom was again endangered by the royalist youth who believed that the moment of reaction had arrived4 ,but now there appeared in his studio one day--this was at the end of #agif--;an officer sent by ,general ,bonaparte who asked in his name whether he would accept an offer of safety with his army in ,italy4 ,it is evidence of the extraordinary farsightedness of ,napoleon that his feelers extended everywhere--wherever there might be future support for his power4 ,but ,david did not accept the offer3 not that he had not at once recognized in ,bonaparte his coming greatness--in fact he already called him his 8hero0--for ,david's instinct was in this respect just as unerring as was ,bonaparte's--but that he had most likely promised himself1 as a result of the terrible experience of the last years1 to no longer become embroiled in political affairs4 ,napoleon's political position was at this time not yet assured1 he did not give up the idea of tempting our artist4 ,when he returned from ,italy he called at his studio for the first time and wished to be painted4 ,his restless spirit1 however1 could endure only one sitting4 ,the wonderful sketch which resulted 7,fig4 #bd7 is still in existence and proves that ,bonaparte knew what he was about when he desired ,david to become the blazoner of his coming power4 ,no artist has given us from the very beginning so idealized a conception of his personality4 ,the breadth of the design in this unfinished composition2 the noble verve of the position2 the dauntlessness of expression3 everything was in keeping with the great historical style that ,napoleon himself might have dreamed of4 ,a few weeks later ,david received an invitation from ,napoleon to accompany him on his ,egyptian campaign4 ,again the artist refused although he had already entirely succumbed to the personality of the great general4 ,when ,napoleon returned from ,egypt he visited ,david frequently and flattered him by taking him around ,paris and talking over with him his plans for beautifying the city4 ,at the end ,david fell completely under the influence of the stronger personality1 as had happened before in the case of ,marat and ,robespierre4 ,and in the same degree that ,napoleon's personality was more powerful than that of the revolutionaries1 his influence was the more crushing4 ,only in this way can we account for the fact that the one-time revolutionary-champion of democratic ideals became at the end the court painter of the emperor4 ,but this was not to the advantage of ,david's art4 ,so long as ,napoleon had not yet reached the height of his power--that is until about #ahjj--our artist succeeded in producing several imposing compositions in honor of the ,first ,consul1 especially the famous portrait on horseback1 where he is shown ascending the ,alps1 symbolically representing his rise to the highest heights of glory--certainly an extraordinary translation of a still living and even young personage into the realm of the ideal and of history4 ,but when ,napoleon had become emperor and ,david his none too carefully treated servant1 his art became weaker and weaker from year to year1 the while his compositions grew larger in size4 ,when after the downfall of the emperor and the return of the ,bourbons he left ,france in exile and settled in ,brussels1 where he lived until the year #ahbd1 he still attracted the attention of the world through his many pupils and admirers1 though his art now belonged to the past4 ,david belongs with the few artists who are mentioned not only in the history of art but also in political history--perhaps a doubtful advantage1 for preoccupation with two so conflicting fields as art and politics1 was only possible through the sacrifice of one or the other4 ,indeed ,david as politician lived only in the shadow of the greater ones4 ,in the field of art he was at his best when his political ideas did not tempt him too much toward abstract themes--that is to say1 in portraiture1 when he had the model before him4 ,as a human being his forte lay in a highly sensitive response to the most intense intellectual and emotional currents of his time4 ,since1 during the greater part of his lifetime1 these currents were not primarily of an artistic nature1 his art could not always take advantage of them4 ,this too intense interest in the great events of the day was perhaps his weak point3 the fact that he submitted too easily to the ephemeral demands of his contemporaries1 preferring the fortune of a successful present to the glory which the future reserves only for the highest aims and the complete renunciation of the demands of the day4 ,from his earliest years ,david had the critics on his side1 and the steady stream of admirers that had gathered about him showed no decrease1 remaining with him even in the most dangerous periods of his life4 ,how different did it fare with one of his really great contemporaries--,beethoven--who throughout his life had to contend with uncomprehending critics1 but who is quoted as having said in this connection1 8,damn me as much as you like2 you are not able to damn me into eternity40 ,just as to the great ones is given as a recompense for the misunderstanding of their day the consciousness of their own value to the future1 so the artist who is glorified in his own time knows his own limitations4 ,david said himself that many of his own works such as the ,brutus no longer had a living value4 ,it was his bad fortune that he was in too close contact with the affairs of the revolution1 for the greatest art 7we return here to our introductory remarks7 cannot arise in the midst of bloodshed4 ,there can be no doubt of where the unattached and eternal art lay during ,david's period1 when we call to mind the poetry of ,goethe or the music of ,beethoven4 ,the centers where the greatest poet and the greatest musician of the days of the revolution lived--,weimar and ,vienna--were far removed from the theater of the struggle1 just as ,rembrandt's art flowered outside the scene of the ,thirty ,years ,war4 ,from a distance the deafening war clangor permeated into the quiet worlds of these rulers in the realm of art2 from a distance through transfiguring light appeared to them the new ideas for which the struggle was waged4 ,such should be the milieu where the greatest art is born--impregnated with the shower of the newly created ideas1 but quietly and not to such a degree that its own existence is imperilled4 ,this chance for perspective also makes it possible for the really great artist to judge worldly matters more clearly than the one who lives in the midst of the fray4 ,how much more impartially1 for instance1 did ,beethoven1 who otherwise did not care for politics1 judge the events of the times than ,david1 who worried about them half his lifetime6 ,beethoven1 also1 like the best of his contemporaries1 was democratically inclined and applauded the new revolutionary ideas4 ,when ,napoleon became ,first ,consul he recognized his greatness and desired to celebrate in his music the hero who had brought the revolution to completion4 ,he began his great symphony1 the 8,eroica10 and wrote upon the title page the name of ,bonaparte next to his own4 ,when the news was brought to him that ,napoleon had crowned himself emperor1 indignant that his illusions had been dispelled and that ,bonaparte had become as tyrannical as the crowned heads which the revolution had deposed1 he tore up the dedication and began the symphony anew1 ending it with the funeral march4 ,the fascination of the art and the personality of ,david lies in the fact that they reflect the period of the greatest intellectual and social upheaval of his nation--an upheaval such as comes to every nation once in its history1 with such a force that through it the whole world is shaken4 ,in such moments of history creations of centuries collapse at one blow4 ,the foundations of faith and of morals waver2 the ties of family and friendship are torn apart and even the customary tasks of the day1 under other circumstances serving as an anchor alike to the weak and the strong1 appear useless and cease3 like the flood of the terrific storm which engulfs us1 rudely tearing away from the strongest the guiding of their own fate1 and forcing the slothful into the maelstrom of the higher general will4 ,what remains for the individual who1 hesitating1 stands at the edge of the precipice1 viewing the tragic drama8 ,can he do better than to plunge into the stream1 keeping afloat as best he may8 ,happy the one who in such periods succeeds like our artist in preserving so much of his own identity that from out the history of this chaos his name still rings with vibrant life4 ,,one ,,hundred ,,and ,,sixty ,,copies ,,privately ,,printed ,,for ,,frederic ,,fairchild ,,sherman ,,mcmxxix ,,footnotes #a ,the picture is not dated1 but since the portrait of ,madame de ,verninac which is almost identical in composition is dated #agii1 it is most likely executed shortly thereafter4 #b ,the figure studies in this sketchbook are interesting from another point of view 7compare ,fig4 #aj1 a study of a beggar closely related to the composition of the ,belisarius1 although later in date74 ,they prove clearly the endeavour of ,david to replace by his own the eighteenth-century style of drawing as he had learned it in the ,boucher school4 ,instead of modelling the figures through diagonal parallel lines1 indicating the shadows and neglecting the outlines1 he tries to produce the effect of plasticity through clearly connected outlines alone1 leaving out the modelling entirely4 ,in this respect also ,david is the predecessor of artists of the most modern school4 ,he developed his style of drawing in connection with his studies after ,roman sculptures and was strongly influenced in his method of designing by a young ,french sculptor1 ,lamarie1 whom he met in ,rome4 7,see ,charles ,saunier3 ,louis ,david1 p4 #af47 #c ,illustrated in the excellent biography of ,david by ,lon ,rosenthal in the series3 ,les ,maitres de l',art1 p4 #cj4 #d ,briefe aus der franzsischen ,revolution1 edited by ,g4 ,landauer1 #aibb4 #e ,reproduced in ,charles ,saunier1 ,david1 p4 #dd and #dh4 #f ,the best book on the subject is by ,pierre de ,nolhac1 ,la ,reine ,marie ,antoinette1 ,paris4 #g ,reproduced in the book on ,danton by ,louis ,madelin 7,paris1 #aiad74 ,the following pages are based upon this excellent biography4 ,transcriber's ,notes ,punctuation1 hyphenation1 and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected2 unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious1 and otherwise left unbalanced4 ,illustrations in this e,book have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations4 ,in versions of this e,book that support hyperlinks1 the page references in the ,list of ,illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations4 ,in the original book1 two groups of illustrations were printed side-by-side on the same page and not in numeric sequence4 ,in this e,book1 they may be displayed side-by-side or one below the other1 in the same sequence as in the original book4 ,footnotes1 originally at the bottoms of the pages that referenced them1 have been collected1 sequentially renumbered1 and placed at the end of the book4