The Modern History Painting

After the Revolution, David became a member of the radical Jacobin party, which

established a revolutionary dictatorship under the leadership of Robespierre

The Reign of Terror, which lasted from September 1793 until the fall of Robespierre in

1794 was supposed to purge France of enemies of the revolution

Thousands were executed by guillotine, including the king and the queen

“Most of the people rounded up were not aristocrats, but ordinary people. A man

(and his family) might go to the guillotine for saying something critical of the

revolutionary government. If an informer happened to overhear, that was all the

tribunal needed . . . The promises of the Declaration of the Rights of Man were

forgotten. Terror was the order of the day.”

The Reign of Terror, HistoryWiz

Joseph Bose, Portrait of Jean-Paul Marat, 1793

Musée Carnavalet, Paris

Wikimedia

Jean-Paul Marat, the editor of the Jacobin newspaper L’Ami de

peuple, was one of the leading instigators of the Reign of Terror

A fiery orator and provocateur, he used his paper to incite public

violence against what he perceived to be enemies of the revolution

Jacques Louis David, Study for the head of Marat, 1793

Musée National du Château, VersaillesPicture of Charlotte Corday from 1904 publication, Juniper Hall

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/france/ig/Charlotte-Corday/Charlotte-

Corday--Juniper-Hall.htm

In 1793 he was murdered in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a royalist

sympathizer who feared the power he had over public opinion

Jacques Louis

David, Death of

Marat, 1793

David was commissioned by the Jacobin government to

commemorate his friend’s death

He depicted the journalist in his medicinal bath (he suffered from a skin disease),

with a makeshift desk at his side, along with his writing instruments

As blood drips from his wound, he clutches the letter from his assassin in his left

hand, while the bloodied murder weapon lays on the ground in the foreground

His skin is pale and unblemished, and his face betrays nothing of the violent

temper for which he was renowned

The light bathes his serene face in a soft golden glow, set off by the dark

background, while his right arm dangles limply over the side of the tub,

recalling Michelangelo’s Pieta

David’s image of Marat is like a modern Pieta, where a martyr of

the revolution has taken the place of Christ, and Christianity has

been replaced by a new “civic religion”

It is worth pausing here to fully take in how far we have traveled

since the beginning of this class, when Mary Jesus and the

Saints were really the only acceptable subject matter for art

Gentile da Fabriano, Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine, Saint Nicholas, and Donor, c. 1370-1427

First, we saw private individuals showing up as donor portraits,

small in scale, and piously praying towards an image of the Virgin

Then we saw the emergence of the secular portrait, and grand

portraits of Monarchs or epic heroes from the classical past

Yes, we also saw genre scenes — but never have we seen modern

individuals depicted in the kind of heroic scene that was commonly

reserved for religious and classical subjects

This is the moment when we have truly entered the modern world, and

modern heroes have now taken center stage

Jacques Louis David, Death of Marat, 1793

Instead of looking to religion or to the Classical past to find “exemplars of

virtue,” David has found a modern hero in his own midst

Gilbert Stuart, Portrait of

Benjamin West, 1783-4

A similar shift towards the “modern history” painting can be seen in the work

of Benjamin West, an American painter who was born in Philadelphia (when

it was still a British colony), and who spent most of his career in London (in

fact, he became the 2nd president of the British Royal Academy)

Benjamin West, Caesar Reading the History of Alexander’s Exploits, 1769

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

West was a bonafide Neoclassicist, as can be seen in this painting depicting

the Roman Emperor Caesar, reading about the exploits of Alexander the

Great

Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770

But West took a radically new approach with this painting, which represents a

modern historical event, rather than a subject from history

Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770

The painting depicts a decisive event during the French and Indian war,

which took place in Quebec, Canada, on September 13, 1789

General Wolffe, the leader of the British forces has been wounded, and he is

surrounded by his faithful soldiers as he expires on the battlefield

Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770

A messenger rushes in from the background bringing the news that the battle

has been won, and we can already see the clouds of war clearing on the left

as patches of blue sky and sunlight begin to cut through the gloom

Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770

West’s painting was considered to be “revolutionary” for its time because it

depicted a modern day event, instead of a story from ancient history

Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770

But West painted the picture as if these modern actors were ancient Roman

heroes come to life

Benjamin West, Caesar Reading the History of Alexander’s Exploits, 1769

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Its as if he took the noble characters from his Neoclassical paintings, and

dressed them up in modern costume to act out a contemporary event

Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770

The grand poses of all the figures is taken from classical sources, including

the Native American Indian in the foreground (which locates the story in the

New World)

The figure of General Wolffe is based directly on images of Jesus Christ in

scenes of the Lamentation

Jacques Louis David, Death of Marat, 1793

Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe (5’ X 7’), c. 1770

And so at the end of the century, in both France and England, we witness the

entry into the modern secular world, where political heroes now take the

place once occupied by god and king