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Oath of the Horatii

 
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Oath of the Horatii (French: Le Serment des Horaces), is a painting by Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David was a highly influential France painter in the Neoclassicism style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo frivolity toward a classical austerity and severity, chiming with the moral climate of the final years of th...
 accomplished in 1784, before the French Revolution, which depicts the Roman salute
Roman salute

The Roman salute is a salute in which the arm is held out forward straight, with palm down. Sometimes the arm is raised upward at an angle, sometimes it is held out parallel to the ground....
. It grew to be considered as paradigm
Paradigm

The word paradigm has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts.To the 1960s, the word was specific to grammar: the 1900 Merriam-Webster dictionary defines its technical use only in the context of grammar or, in rhetoric, as a term for an illustrative parable or fable....
 of neoclassical
Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to quite distinct Cultural movement in the Decorative art and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture ....
 art. The painting increased David's fame, and allowed him to rear his own students.

Symbolic theme
The painting depicts the Roman Horatii
Horatii

According to Titus Livius, the Horatii were a set of male triplets from Rome. During a war between Rome and Alba Longa during the reign of Tullus Hostilius , it was agreed that settlement of the war would depend on the outcome of a battle between the Horatii and the Curiatii....
, who according to Titus Livius' Ab Urbe Condita
Ab Urbe condita (book)

Ab Urbe condita , written by Titus Livius , is a monumental history of Rome, from its legendary founding in c.753 BC . It is often referred to as History of Rome....
 (From the Founding of the City) were male triplets destined to wage war against the "Curiatii," who were also male triplets, in order to settle disputes between the Romans and the Albans from the city of Alba Longa
Alba Longa

Alba Longa was an ancient city of Latium in central Italian Peninsula southeast of Ancient Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC....
.






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Oath of the Horatii (French: Le Serment des Horaces), is a painting by Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David was a highly influential France painter in the Neoclassicism style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo frivolity toward a classical austerity and severity, chiming with the moral climate of the final years of th...
 accomplished in 1784, before the French Revolution, which depicts the Roman salute
Roman salute

The Roman salute is a salute in which the arm is held out forward straight, with palm down. Sometimes the arm is raised upward at an angle, sometimes it is held out parallel to the ground....
. It grew to be considered as paradigm
Paradigm

The word paradigm has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts.To the 1960s, the word was specific to grammar: the 1900 Merriam-Webster dictionary defines its technical use only in the context of grammar or, in rhetoric, as a term for an illustrative parable or fable....
 of neoclassical
Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to quite distinct Cultural movement in the Decorative art and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture ....
 art. The painting increased David's fame, and allowed him to rear his own students.

Symbolic theme


The painting depicts the Roman Horatii
Horatii

According to Titus Livius, the Horatii were a set of male triplets from Rome. During a war between Rome and Alba Longa during the reign of Tullus Hostilius , it was agreed that settlement of the war would depend on the outcome of a battle between the Horatii and the Curiatii....
, who according to Titus Livius' Ab Urbe Condita
Ab Urbe condita (book)

Ab Urbe condita , written by Titus Livius , is a monumental history of Rome, from its legendary founding in c.753 BC . It is often referred to as History of Rome....
 (From the Founding of the City) were male triplets destined to wage war against the "Curiatii," who were also male triplets, in order to settle disputes between the Romans and the Albans from the city of Alba Longa
Alba Longa

Alba Longa was an ancient city of Latium in central Italian Peninsula southeast of Ancient Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC....
. As revolution in France
French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit...
 loomed, paintings urging loyalty to the state rather than to clan or clergy abounded. Although it was painted nearly five years before the revolution in France, the Oath of the Horatii became one of the defining images of the time.

In the painting, the three brothers express their loyalty and solidarity with Rome before battle, wholly supported by their father. These are men willing to lay down their lives out of patriotic duty. In this patriarchal society, the steely men, with their resolute gaze and taut, outstretched limbs are citadels of republican patriotism. They are symbols of the highest virtues of the Republic, while the tender-hearted women lie weeping and mourning, content to wait.

The mother and sisters are shown clothed in silken garments seemingly melting into tender expressions of sorrow. Their despair is partly explained by the fact that one sister was engaged to one of the Curiatii and another is a sister of the Curiatii, married to one of the Horatii. Upon defeat of the Curiatii, the remaining Horatius journeyed home to find his sister cursing Rome over the death of her fiancé. He killed her, horrified that Rome was being cursed. Originally David had intended to depict this episode, and a drawing survives showing the surviving Horatius raising his sword, with his sister lying dead. David later decided that this subject was too gruesome a way of sending the message of public duty overcoming private feeling, but his next major painting depicted a similar scene - Lucius Junius Brutus
Lucius Junius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first Consuls in 509 BC. He was the primary ancestor of the Junius family in Ancient Rome, including Marcus Junius Brutus....
 brooding as the bodies of his sons, whose executions for treason he had ordered, are returned home.

The painting shows the three brothers on the left, the Horatii father in the center, and the sister/wives on the right. The Horatii brothers are depicted swearing upon (saluting) their swords as they take their oath. As members of a patriarchal society, the men show no sense of emotion. Even the father, who holds up three swords, shows no emotion. On the right, three women are weeping -- one in the back and two up closer. The woman dressed in the white is a Horatius weeping for both her Curiatii fiancé and her brother; the one dressed in brown is a Curiatius who weeps for her Horatii husband and her brother. The background woman in black holds two children -- one of whom is the child of a Horatius male and his Curiatii wife. The younger daughter hides her face in her nanny’s dress as the son refuses to have his eyes shielded.

Symbolic technique


This painting shows the neoclassical
Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to quite distinct Cultural movement in the Decorative art and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture ....
 art style, and employs various techniques that were typical for it:

  • The background is deemphasized, while the figures in the foreground are emphasized to show their importance.
  • The use of dull colors is to show the importance of the story behind the painting over the painting itself.
  • The picture is clearly organized, depicting the symbolism of the number three and of the moment itself.
  • The focus on clear, hard details and the lack of use of the more wispy brushstrokes preferred by Rococo
    Rococo

    Rococo is a style of 18th century French art and interior design. Rococo rooms were designed as total works of art with elegant and ornate furniture, small sculptures, ornamental mirrors, and tapestry complementing architecture, reliefs, and wall paintings....
     art.
  • The brushstrokes are invisible, to show that the painting is more important compared to the artist
  • The frozen quality of the painting is also intended to emphasize rationality, unlike the Rococo style.
  • The only emotion shown is from the women, who were allowed to feel, while it was for the men to do their duty with heroic determination.
  • The fact that it also depicts a morally complex or disturbing story lends to its classification as a neoclassical work.


Reception


Royalty, churchmen, and aristocrats went to view the painting; it was eulogised, even the Pope wanted to view The Oath of the Horatii. David wanted the painting exhibited in the Salon, but it was delivered late, and enemies of his at the Academy took advantage to exhibit it in a poor locale in the gallery. In the event, public dissatisfaction with the poor viewing conditions, obliged the gallery to move the painting to a site proper for viewing the painting; moreover, David held The Oath of the Horatii on exhibit for some extra weeks, to permit reporters to write about all of the paintings exhibited, not just his.