Image · Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David · 1784
About this masterpiece
Three brothers from the Roman Horatii family stretch their arms toward their father, who holds three swords aloft, swearing an oath to defend Rome to the death in single combat against the Curiatii of Alba Longa. To the right, the women of the household collapse in grief, anticipating the loss to come. The composition is reduced to a stark architectural frame and three dramatic arches.
Historical significance
Painted in Rome and exhibited in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution, The Oath of the Horatii became the manifesto of Neoclassicism. Its severe geometry, civic virtue and rejection of Rococo frivolity captured the political mood of an age yearning for republican ideals. David himself would soon become the painter of the Revolution.
