Speaker: Nancy Maxwell

Jacques-Louis David did not merely paint history; he helped define it. Through his unforgettable images of Marie Antoinette, the murdered Marat, and Napoleon on horseback, he shaped our view of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic age. This lecture explores the many facets of David: artist, activist: court painter, revolutionary propagandist, prisoner, and, ultimately, exile. We examine his use of the powerful neoclassical style to express the ideals of virtue, patriotism, and power, and consider the moral complexity of an artist who recorded an era while also helping to fuel its passions. David’s life raises compelling questions about the relationship between art and ambition, and the uneasy connection between creative genius and political conviction.