Maria Santi:
Revolution and show business

At first, Jacques-Louis David became famous, and then rich, thanks to a profitable marriage. For the painting “Lictors bring Brutus the bodies of his sons”, the painter ordered furniture to master Jacob. The master enriched himself by reproducing these models.

The picture was banned. After all, Brutus uprooted royal power in ancient Rome - and the royal salon saw a dangerous hint in choosing the plot. However, David pushed the opportunity to show it through senior opposition officials. Which clearly indicates that there were enough dissatisfied with the regime. It seemed to everyone that it was enough to pick up the satrap-bloodsucker and a bright life would begin.

Jacques Louis David - Lictors bring Brutus the bodies of his sons

By the beginning of the revolution, David was 42 years old.

He served the new system both as an artist and as a revolutionary. He signed the death sentences, including a decree on the execution of the king. He was chairman of the convention, as before Danton and Robespierre. Revenge old enemies. For example, he removed one of them from the post of representative of the Academy in Rome. He fought at the diplomatic level for the French artist, author of the sculpture group "Jupiter, struck by lightning aristocracy", when the Italians arrested him.

At the insistence of David, the Louvre was opened.

And then the revolutionaries put him in prison. The wife who left the regicide returned and scratched the artist from the clutches of his former supporters.

Surviving the internecine struggle for power, the revolutionaries were dispersed by Napoleon.

By the way, he laughed at the idea of posing:
- Do you think Alexander posed for Apelles?

Jacques Louis David - The Sabines Stopping the Battle

The emperor invited David to become a senator. The artist refused. Yes, he liked to rule. But he didn’t like the board that could be demanded at any moment.

In the Sabine Women Stopping the Battle, David portrayed the Parisian elite. He made the viewing of the painting paid, wrote a long explanation. Nobody really read it, the bare breasts of high-ranking ladies are much more interesting.

For one of the revolutionary holidays, David came up with a statue of Atheism in the form of a nesting doll. It was burned, and Wisdom was revealed inside. Then Napoleon arranged a long performance for Europe, destroying almost all healthy men. At the end of his life, David had to flee to Brussels. The French removed from the cabinet of Louis XVIII, restored the monarchy and began to destroy pensioners of the French Revolution.