Neoclassicism · 1793
Jacques-Louis David 1748–1825
Royal Museums of Fine Arts · Brussels
The murdered revolutionary slumps in his bath like a secular pietà — David's coolly perfect propaganda for the Revolution.
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Chapter 1 of 7
You are looking at a political act disguised as a painting. Paris, seventeen ninety-three — the Revolution is devouring its own. Jacques-Louis David, the regime's official artist and Marat's personal friend, receives word of the murder and goes to work within days.
What he gives the Republic is not a crime scene. It is an icon.
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