Oath Of The Horatii Analysis
The painting Oath of the Horatii of 1785 confirms David s new style. In the end of
1782, the tragedy Horace of the playwright Corneille is represented and the last act
of the play makes a strong impression upon David. Indeed, the first sketch of the
painting depicts the scene in which the aged Horace speaks to the crowd in
defence of his accused son, victor over the Curiatii. This sketch, however, does not
satisfied David due to its lack of communication, so, inspired by the classical history
of the period, he decides to depict a more communicative and powerful scene: the
oath of the Horatii. He starts to paint it in Paris but, believing that only in Rome he
could paint a Roman picture, symbol of patriotism, he moves to the Eternal City...
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Firstly, through the nudity, the painter can proceed with a detailed analysis of
gestures and anatomy of the body, and secondly, with the naked body, he can
bypass questions about the contemporary dress, which are repudiated by the
classical tradition because of the lack of nobility (Baecque de, 1997 p.187). Here,
David is very influenced by Barnave, whose harmonious body is seen as a perfect
aesthetic symbol which reflects the neoclassicism corporeal ideal. Thus, in painting
the bodies of the people of The Tennis Court Oath, David focus his attention on three
important parts of the body: face, hand, and torso, through which he can emphasise
not only the importance of the subject of the drawing, the oath, but also the feelings
and the soul of the protagonists of the oath itself (Op. Cit. p, 188). Therefore, the
ideal beauty of the new classicism is represented by these three corporal parts which
are connected each other by shaping a triangle. But, how can the movement of the
soul show themselves externally by the harmonious action of the muscles? . As de
Baecque explains, in the body everything begins from the torso which is the place of
the heart, rises toward the face which is the seat of the mind, whose eyes play an
important role since through them one can recognise the feelings and emotions of the
other, to turn out in the muscles, especially the arms and hands, which are symbols of