Art

Le Serment des Horaces, Jacques-Louis David (Source)

Art? Really Sarge? Am I going all cultural with my loyal readers?

Well, yes and no.

Oath of the Horatii (French: Le Serment des Horaces), is a large painting by the French artist Jacques-Louis David painted in 1784 and now on display in the Louvre in Paris. The painting immediately became a huge success with critics and the public, and remains one of the best known paintings in the Neoclassical style.

It depicts a scene from a Roman legend about a dispute between two warring cities, Rome and Alba Longa, and stresses the importance of patriotism and masculine self-sacrifice for one's country. Instead of the two cities sending their armies to war, they agree to choose three men from each city; the victor in that fight will be the victorious city. From Rome, three brothers from a Roman family, the Horatii, agree to end the war by fighting three brothers from a family of Alba Longa, the Curiatii. The three brothers, all of whom appear willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of Rome, are shown saluting their father who holds their swords out for them. Of the three Horatii brothers, only one shall survive the confrontation. However, it is the surviving brother who is able to kill the other three fighters from Alba Longa: he chases the three fighters, causing them to separate from each other, and then, in turn, kills each Curiatii brother. Aside from the three brothers depicted, David also represents, in the bottom right corner, a woman crying whilst sitting down. She is Camilla, a sister of the Horatii brothers, who is also betrothed to one of the Curiatii fighters, and thus she weeps in the realisation that, in any case, she will lose someone she loves.

The principal sources for the story behind David's Oath are the first book of Livy (sections 24-6) which was elaborated by Dionysius in book 3 of his Roman Antiquities. However, the moment depicted in David's painting is his own invention.

It grew to be considered a paragon of neoclassical art. The painting increased David's fame, allowing him to take on his own students. W

In the aftermath of the crud I came down with on Tuesday evening last (and suffered through most of Wednesday instant), I found myself rather unmotivated and just a wee bit tired and out of sorts yesterday. I am entertaining the theory that my Muse, horrified by my recent bout of intestinal whatever, fled the scene, thinking perhaps that whatever it was that afflicted me might well be contagious.

I am waiting to see if The Missus Herself shows any symptoms before I can prove or disprove that theory, yes, I know, one sparrow doth not a spring make. One point of data won't prove or disprove anything, it simply indicates...

Let's just say SCIENCE! And leave it at that.

So, in an effort to entertain the readership the thought occurred to me that as I like art, so must the readership. Maybe. Perhaps. And we shall see.

Anyhoo... (and we all know what that means*)

I did a search for classic art. One of the many images provided by Monsieur Google was that one above. That painting was done by one of my favorite painters Jacques-Louis David, a favorite of the Emperor Napoléon hisself. Probably due to efforts such as...

Serment de l'armée fait à l'Empereur après la distribution des aigles, 5 décembre 1804, Jacques-Louis David (Source)

At any rate, it inspired me to do this post on art. I like art, especially that done in the classical or neo-classical style. So...

HA! Take that Muse, I am not completely useless on my own! (Which means of course, that I am semi-useless on my own. I guess.)

Pollice Verso, Jean-Leon Gérôme (Source)

So what say you? Thumbs up or thumbs down as to your feelings about art?

Hey, culture...

For we don't wish to be regarded as некультурный as the Russians might say, do we?

Heavens no. 





* Classic OAFS indication of a digression coming to a conclusion.