The
Tennis Court Oath by Jacques Louis David
Sketch
for a painting commemorating the Tennis
Court Oath by David. Consciously modeled after the
Oath of the Horatii.
Jacques
Louis David, like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, felt that it was the artist’s
moral duty was to paint elevated subjects and that these subjects
should be rooted in ancient notions of virtue. In his speeches
to the Convention David expressed the belief that works of art
might become inspiring to future generations of spectators. The
compelling nature of David’s paintings is sometimes considered
as propaganda for the cause of the French Revolution.
In this painting the artist depicted an event of the French Revolution, the Tennis Court Oath, where delegates vowed in defiance of royal authority not to leave until they had drafted a constitution for France. He consciously used an event from Roman history, the Oath of the Horatii as a model. His painting the Oath of the Horatii glorified self sacrifice and patriotism. It was these virtues that he was calling upon here.
|
Tennis Court Oath detail; Jacques Louis David |
