David (Jacques-Louis David; born August 30, 1748 – died December 29, 1825) – a famous French artist, the central figure of late classicism and the most prominent representative of the Empire style in painting. Throughout his adult life, David held a conscious civic position, actively participated in the Great French Revolution, and later became an ardent supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte. As a painter, Jacques-Louis David early achieved recognition in France and Europe.

Biography of Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David was born in Paris, in the family of a wholesale iron merchant on August 30, 1748. At the age of nine, the boy lost his father, and his mother left her son in the care of her brother and went to live in a small town in Normandy. The future artist showed an early talent for drawing and studying. Therefore, his mother’s relatives helped enroll young Jacques-Louis in the College of the Four Nations and encouraged him to study drawing at the Academy of St. Luke. In 1766, the young man entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, where he began studying in the workshop of Joseph Vien, a recognized master of historical painting and an expert on ancient art.

In 1775-1780, Jacques-Louis went to study in Italy, at the French Academy in Rome. Here, the young artist admired the works of ancient masters of painting and finally became a supporter of classicism. In 1782, David married Charlotte Pecoul, a woman who later gave birth to four children for him. He would carry his love for her throughout the rest of his life, despite the hardships of fate and numerous temptations. In 1783, at the age of 35, David was elected a member of the French Academy of Painting, and a year later the young man achieved recognition from the general public at the Paris Exhibition. His “Oath of the Horatii” was a resounding success with the audience, the 35-year-old master became the court artist of Louis XVI, painting in the classical style.

In 1789, the artist enthusiastically welcomed the beginning of the bloody revolution and became its active participant. The painter was even elected to the Convention – the highest legislative and executive body of the young republic. He became closely associated with the outstanding revolutionaries of that era – Marat and Robespierre, and voted for the death sentence of the deposed King Louis XVI. During this same period, the artist divorced his wife due to differences in political views.

In 1794, David’s life literally hung by a thread. He is arrested after the Thermidorian coup and imprisoned. The revolutionary authorities even seriously consider the execution of their former comrade, but his authority and recognition in painting save him. In 1796, after a four-year break, he remarries Charlotte, and they will not part until their death. At the same time, a new strong figure appears in the political life of France – Napoleon. The already recognized classic, along with other Parisians, greets the young general at his triumphal entry into the city after the Italian campaign and becomes an ardent supporter of the future emperor. During the era of the Empire, Jacques-Louis David rapidly gains authority in the artistic community. He becomes a court painter and the founder of a new style in the visual arts – Empire. The master’s masterpieces glorify the Empire and its ruler. The paintings are full of deliberate pomp, assert the superiority of the leader, and are dominated by strict proportions and restraint of rich tones.

David enthusiastically paints first the general, and a little later the Emperor Napoleon in many of his works. He devotes his paintings to the most important events of the time – military campaigns and coronations. The master’s brush produces portraits of people close to the sole ruler of France. The Napoleonic period will be remembered by connoisseurs of painting for its famous paintings in the Empire style: “The Coronation of Emperor Napoleon I …”, “Bonaparte at the Saint Bernard Pass”, “Portrait of Madame Recamier” and many other works. In 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon finally parted with power. In France, the royal dynasty of the Bourbons returned to the throne. For the master, these events are of great importance. He is expelled from the country, the former member of the Convention is not forgiven for voting for the death penalty of Louis XVI and active participation in the revolution.

He moves to neighboring Belgium and loses interest in political life. For the last 10 years, he works on a series of portraits and teaches his students. The life of the great master ends suddenly in December 1825. The old man returns home from the theater, gets hit by a cart and is seriously injured. In serious condition, he is brought home, where the painter dies. A year later, his wife follows her husband into the next world. The French authorities refused to bury the deceased’s children’s body in Paris. The grave of the great master is in Brussels. But the son secretly took the heart of the deceased to France and buried it in the Père Lachaise cemetery.