The Academy and the French Revolution
Raphael, The School of Athens, c. 1510-1512
Charles Joseph Natoire, Life Drawing Class at the French Academy, 1746
Johann Zoffany, The Academicians of the Royal Academy, 1771-2 Female members of the Royal Academy in London: Angelica Kauffmann, Mary Moser Term: patriarchy
Hierarchy of Genres History Painting Portraiture Genre Landscape Still Life
Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784-5
The French Revolution Terms: Estates General, Third Estate
David, Oath of the Tennis Court, 1791 Term: Versailles (a royal palace)
David, Sketch for the Oath of the Tennis Court, 1791
Saint-Domingue (later Haiti) 1791: slave revolt in Saint-Domingue 1794: National Convention in Paris outlawed slavery in the French colonies
Anne-Louis Girodet, Citizen Jean-Baptiste Belley, Ex-Representative of the Colonies, 1797
l. “Reynald,” (Raynal) from Johann Kaspar Lavater, Essai sur la physiognomie destiné à faire connoître l’homme et le faire aimer, 1781. Term: Physiognomy
Anne-Louis Girodet, Citizen Jean-Baptiste Belley, Ex-Representative of the Colonies, 1797
Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793
“What have I done to you. Mercy … mercy at least for my life “What have I done to you? Mercy … mercy at least for my life.” Illustration to Pierre Viaud, Naufrage et aventures de M. Pierre Viaud, Natif de Bordeaux, Capitaine de Navire (1770)
Anne-Louis Girodet, Citizen Jean-Baptiste Belley, Ex-Representative of the Colonies, 1797
Guillaume Guillon Lethière, Oath of the Ancestors, 1822 On right: Jean-Jacques Dessalines On left: Alexandre Pétion Guillaume Guillon Lethière, Oath of the Ancestors, 1822
Why is the idea of an “oath” so attractive to artists seeking to give form to political change? How does Lethière’s oath scene compare to those of David? What role does the luminous figure of God play in this picture? Where are the women? What does the image have to say about gender? How would you compare the figures of Dessalines and Pétion to Girodet’s Belley?