What Extent Do You Find The Influence Of Rousseau’s Views

Rousseau’s ideology can be considered as more or less the foundation of the French Revolution. David (1748 – 1825) was a neo-classical painter of revolution who took his inspiration from both past and present. David’s painting, therefore, considering the fact that he was the painter of the French Revolution, depicted revolutionist ideas.

The call-to-arms of the “The Oath of Horatii”, to the fall of a hero “Marat at his Last Breathe” and to the rise of “Emperor Napoleon at St. Bernard” – all these painting have demonstrated the highs and lows of the French Revolution.

There is a close link between Rousseau’s ideas and the “The Oath Of Horatii”. It is actually a bombardment to the senses of an individual’s particular will against a state’s general will in many senses. This can be seen in the pictorial space, layout of figures, etc.

The following essay tries to demonstrate the extent of Rousseau’s philosophy on David’s painting, “The Oath Of Horatii.”

Let us first look at Rousseau’s philosophy. Tired of intellectual restrictions of religion and the political constraints of absolutism, Jean-Jacques Rousseau came up with ideologies to counteract them. According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a person or institution has authorit

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“The Oath of Horatii” was one of very first paintings of David to have revolutionary political messages in fact.

All the figures in the picture are foregrounded. Particular will is concerned with our own advantage. This is contrasted by the expression and posture of the men showing that they willing to lay down their lives for their country and even willing to kill their relatives (which they do eventually) if duty demands. Since it was painted at the height of the French Revolution in 1784 and completed in 1785, maybe David was using this painting to show gesture of allegiance to the revolutionary ideas brewing and asking people to join him in doing what was best for the state. His facial expression does not show any outward signs of sadness, only determination to carry out a task that will benefit his country even at the risk of losing his son. From the above discussion, it can be clearly established that Rousseau’s philosophy influenced David’s paintings although he was never explicit about these influences. His work is representative of a kind of political heroism in which the best interests of society are put before those of the individual, where the general will of the society takes precedence over the particular will of an individual. This could also be a graphical representation to reinforce the idea that general will must take precedence over particular will.

In the picture composition, Horatius, his sons and the womenfolk occupy two-thirds of the pictorial space.

To prove his argument, Rousseau highlighted three wills of man: the particular will, the will of all, and the general will. The question now would be convincing each individual that they ought to think according to the general will.

Rousseau has claimed, ‘Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. There is also no guarantee that in the absence of the state, the people will still obey it. Maybe, David was trying to prove Rousseau wrong by showing that art could promote the correct values and by especially using values Rousseau was advocating in his paintings.

Approximate Word count = 1596
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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