David Oath of the Horatii
Artist: Jacques-Louis David (French b. 1748 d. 1825)
Date: 1784-85
Dimensions: 326 x 420 cm
Medium: oil on canvas
Current location: Louvre, Paris
Period: Neoclassicism
Genre: history painting

Quick Notes:
  • David divides the composition into three equal sections that are mirrored by the three
    arches in the background.
  • The subject matter for this composition inspired by the play Horace by Pierre Corneille.
    The theme of duty to the Republic over all other allegiances was appealing to David, who
    was personally involved in the French Revolution. In the painting, the three sons of
    Horace swear to fight for the Roman Republic against three champions from Alba, a
    neighboring enemy state. The women on the right are distressed not only because the
    sons of Horace may be killed in battle, but also because the women are related through
    marriage to the Albans.
  • The spare, linear style David employed in this painting was a sharp break with the Rococo
    style that had been fashionable in France in the previous decades.
  • The arcade and flagstone floor recall the use of linear perspective as practiced by Italian
    artists in the quattrocento.

Suggested Compare-Contrast Target:
  • Poussin, The Abduction of the Sabine Women


Writing Prompts:
  • Where do you see the influence of Caravaggio in this painting?
  • How does the painting's composition reflect its meaning?


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