Death of Marat
The French Revolution led to the creation of Jacques Louis David's masterpiece titled "Death of Marat", which clearly depicted the assassination of Marat, a leader in the French Revolution in 1793. David portrayed Marat as a secular saint who sacrificed his life for the people of his country. Marat's saint-like pose is similar to Christ's in Michelangelo's "Pieta", which emphasizes Marat's role as a political martyr. David represented Marat in a heroic approach, because the men were close friends and the scene painted by David held great significance not only personally, but publicly in Europe. "Elected into the National Convention, David had the responsibility to ensure the momentum of the revolution would continue; therefore he worked to capture Marat in the most appealing way possible" 739). Marat was to be a symbol for maintaining the movement and ultimately becoming a "friend of the people". "David has idealized Marat in Classical fashion, for his body was in fact ravaged by a skin disease. He found relief from this by soaking in the bath" (739).
The events in the painting are contained in the lower half of the piece in order to concentrate the viewers' attention on the most important aspect of the painting, which is the dead man. David exaggerated some facts about the letter to further his point of view of the scenario, which was common for painters to do during the neoclassical era. The document was formally addressed to a mother of five children whose husband died defending their country" (738). David's masterpiece is one of the great curiosities of neoclassical art it has nothing trivial or vile. The rest of Marat's body is left in a shadow as a warm yellow light further softens the horror of the scene. The murder scene shows Marat clutching the letter from Corday falsely pleading for assistance. An inscription on the side of the wooden crate reads "A Marat/David". In Marat's right hand is a pen he had been writing with and draped over the bathtub and around Marat's head is a bloodstained cloth. Slumped over in the bathtub with his hands outstretched lying motionless in a picturesque scene, Marat is portrayed like Christ. Charlotte Corday, a counterrevolutionary, entered Marat's home and stabbed him while he was in the bath. "Corday fraudulently used the letter to gain access to Marat in order to execute his murder" (119). Next to the tub is an old wooden crate, which was used for a desk. Marat's face with his eyes closed, and mouth partly smiling presents an appearance of a calm and gentle sleep. Attempting to portray Marat as a hero who was genuinely concerned with the well being of the French citizens, "David included a compassionate document lying beside Marat.
Common topics in this essay:
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French Revolution,
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Oath Horatii,
Louis David's,
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wooden crate,
french revolution,
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Acceptance Essays
