Jacques-Louis David
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Born in Paris, France(30 August
1748 – 29 December 1825)
He was a highly influential painter
of the Neo-Classical style
The Neo-Classical style is a contrast
to the late Baroque or Rococo styles
of the late 18th century. It is a
desire to return to the purer art
from of early Western periods,
namely Roman, Greek and
Renaissance. Uses sharp colours
and no pastels.
Becomes a good friend of
Robespierre and later Napoleon
A dictator of the arts during the
Revolution
OATH OF THE HORATII (1784)
Louis XVI made him work on this painting, with the intention that it was an allegory
about loyalty to the state and therefore to the King.
As the Revolution approached, paintings increasingly referred to the loyalty to the state
rather than the family or church.
THE LICTORS BRING TO BRUTUS
THE BODIES OF HIS SONS (1789)
The Royal court did not want propaganda agitating the people, so this painting was not
allowed to be shown, but the people protested and the royals were forced to give in.
Painting depicts the Roman leader, Lucius Junius Brutus, grieving his dead sons, who
had attempted to overthrow the government, forcing him to order their deaths in order to
save the republic.
THE OATH OF THE TENNIS COURT (1789)
David was commissioned to paint this in order to commemorate the event
of the same name, but it was never truly completed.
THE DEATH OF MARAT (1793)
Portrayal of David’s friend who had been assassinated by Charlotte Corday.
Corday’s name appears on the list in Marat’s hand in the painting.
This painting became the leading image of the Terror, and immortalized both
Marat and David in the world of the revolution.
THE INTERVENTION OF THE SABINE WOMEN (1799)
Though said to be in honor of his wife, the painting was also seen as a plea for
the people to reunite after the Revolution.
This work brought him to Napoleon’s attention.
NAPOLEON CROSSING THE SAINT-BERNARD (1801)
Commissioned after Napoleon’s coup d’etat in 1799, to commemorate his crossing of the
Alps. The crossing of the Saint Bernard Pass had allowed the French to surprise attack the
Austrian army and win victory at the battle of Marengo in June of 1800.
CORONATION OF NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE,
2 DECEMBER 1804 (1807)
Work was commissioned orally by Napoleon in September 1804, though not completed until
November 1807.
Official title was to be “Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress
Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804”
MARS BEING DISARMED BY VENUS AND
THE THREE GRACES (1824)
David’s last great work. He began it in 1822, at age 73, during his exile in Brussels.
He completed it shortly before dying in an accident in 1825.
The painting’s setting is surrealistic, a temple floating in the clouds. Venus, the three
Graces and Cupid, are shown taking away all the weapons, shield and helmet of Mars,
who allows himself to be disarmed and gives in to Venus’ charms.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
• German composer (20 December
1770- 26 March 1827) born in
Bonn, Germany
• A composer of the late classical
period
• 1787, he travelled to Vienna to
study with Mozart for a short
period
• He went back there in 1792 and
studied with composers Salieri
and Haydn
• War had also broke out in Vienna
in 1792
• 1796 was the only year he would
embark on a tour. He travelled to
Prague, Dresdon and Berlin
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Liberty, Fraternity and Equality–
Revolutionary Ideals in Beethoven’s
Works
The years between 1803 and 1812 are referred to as the “heroic
decade” in his life. He mastered the classical style and moved
forward to create his own.
Referred to as “heroic” because he wrote many of his large scale
orchestral works during it. Several works were reactions to the
French Revolution. All of these accomplished in the midst of his
growing health problems.
In 1802, Vienna staged some popular operas from Paris such as ones
by Cherubini and Méhul. He decided to write a political opera of his
own, Fidelio (completed in 1805, unsuccessful performance, revised
until 1814).
The opera uses the libretto, Leonore, ou L’amour conjugal by JeanNicolas Bouilly. This libretto was written roughly around the fall of
Robespierre.
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This libretto has associations with the Revolution. Beethoven sets it to
the genre of a “rescue opera.”
The plot is about a wife, Leonore, who rescues her husband, Florestan
from a prison. She sneaks into the prisoner disguised as a male
janitor and finds out that her husband is going to be killed by the jail
governor, Don Pizarro. When Don Pizarro is about to kill Florestan,
Leonore pulls a gun on him.
The opera ends with the liberation of all the prisoners and Don
Pizarro is sent away. Liberation is the central them of the opera.
The libretto used was actually based on a real incident that occurred
during the Terror, where an aristocrat man was saved by his wife.
The last scene of the opera is the prisoner’s chorus which represents
the establishment of a new regime and the ideal of freedom and
fraternity.
Some characters in the opera are also directly linked to the
Revolution. Rocco’s “gold aria” represents the bourgeois obsession
with money as he sings about the importance of gold.
Also, it ties into the revolution because it ends with the liberation of a
prison... The same way the French Revolution begins
Symphony No. 3, Eroica Symphony
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This Symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte,
however Beethoven had a change of heart when Napoleon crowned
himself Emperor
“Oh! He is making an emperor of himself, is he? Then he is no better than
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the rest of them: he shall not have my symphony!”
The title was originally Bonaparte, however he changed it to the
Eroica Symphony
It is believed that Beethoven was at first a supporter of the Revolution
and even held Jacobin ideals
The second movement of the Symphony quotes a famous French
Revolutionary March, March Lugubre, by Francois-Joseph Gossec.
The whole movement takes the form of a funeral march.
In the Finale, he also quotes a composition that he uses in three other
works. This melody is a country dance theme, a style of dance that
was popular and was a dance that anyone of any class could join in,
thus symbolizing the ideal of equality.
Universal Brotherhood in his Ninth
Symphony
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Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is a revolution within itself as it is the first
symphony to add a chorus
The Ode to Joy chorus was used for the National Anthem of Germany
during the Olympics between 1956 and 1968 when the country was
divided during the Cold War
Also, the European Union has adopted it as its anthem in 1985
Ode to Joy is based on a choral ode by Friedrich Schiller about
“universal fellowship through joy and the love of an eternal heavenly
father”
Further Connections to the Revolution
in Beethoven’s Works
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Beethoven’s 7th Symphony is known as the “Battle Symphony” and
was performed during celebrations regarding the Congress in Vienna
in 1814
Beethoven expressed a great deal of compositional liberty. His String
quartet Op. 131 is played without breaks in between movements and
has seven movements
His 5th Symphony has three allegro movements
His 6th Symphony, the “Pastoral Symphony” is the forerunner of
programme symphonies and includes a yodelling tune called the Rigi
Tune (Rigi is a mountain in Switzerland) which later inspired
composers to incorporate nationalistic symbols into their music
The heroic quality of his works has resulted in its use for political
campaigns: 5th Symphony associated with Allied victories, Kaiser
Wilhelm commemorated with his Coriolan Overture.
(1792) French Liberty, British Slavery
James Gillray caricatured French “liberty” as the opportunity to starve and
the British “slavery” as bloated complaints about taxation.
James Gillray: 1759-1815, British caricaturist and printmaker.
Robespierre (1794) Guillotining
himself
NAPOLEON & St. HELENA
Published in France around 1815
Satirizes the Champ de Mai 1815, a grand ceremony held in front of the Ecole Militaire
during the hundred days of Napoleon’s return.
Proposition of the Constitution to the inhabitants of St. Helena.
EDMUND BURKE
One of the largest attackers of the French Revolution was British Edmund Burke.
“a country where the people, along with their political servitude, have thrown off
the yoke of laws and morals”
He published a major attack (over 17,000 copies by the end of the year) on the
Revolution and it’s British supporters “Reflections on the Revolution in France and
on the proceedings of certain societies in London relative to that event”
Contemporary English cartoon.
REVOLUTIONARY FASHION
New Fashion:
-Women abandoned skirt hoops for simple gown or light fabric
-Frenchmen also adopted a plain frock or riding coat, short waistcoats & higher leather
boots.
In 1793, the Committee of Public Safety invited David, painter and propagandist, to
recommend improvements to the natural dress to make it more appropriate to
republicanism and the character of the Revolution.
THE PLUMB-PUDDING IN DANGER
James Gillray, 1805 in London, England
William Pitt and Napoleon face each other, Pitt is shown slicing off the ocean
for Britain, as Napoleon takes a large chunk of Europe.
William Pitt: Prime Minister of Britain at the time this scene was created.