{"product_id":"aldateikn-77408-28832","title":"Century symbol # 77408","description":"Century drawing by Björn Th. Björnsson.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"A picture needs to be painted here\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIt is not often that the exhibition of a painting is considered a major event in political history. Usually, art only weaves the inner fortress of national life and subjective relations, but does not raise the flag of external conflict. Yet this is exactly what happened in Paris in 1785, when the painter Jacques Louis David, then 36 years old, publicly exhibited his painting, The Oath of the Horatians. The picture became known and people flocked to it all day long, not only Parisians, but people from far and wide, and its incendiary power became a topic of discussion everywhere, of admiration as well as of outraged objections. Brass engravings of it were made and sold throughout France.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBut what made this painting such a spark? In terms of subject matter, the picture refers to the Roman legend in which the sons of Horace the Elder swear a solemn oath to their father, on their swords, to fight for freedom or die. But at the same time, its subject matter is woven into a memory from one of Corneille's plays, where it is said that Horace's daughter has been defiled, and her brothers have sworn to avenge her honor. That is why she is leaning here, crouching on her mother's shoulder, raising the viewer's suspicion that her brothers will have to kill the man she loves.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe political content of the film was not only in the narrative, the vow to fight for freedom or die, but also in the reference to the republican ideal, which the ancient Romans had pioneered. France itself had no historical model of democracy to point to, and interest was therefore focused on the classical antiquities of Greece and the Roman Empire, where democracy raised culture to the highest possible level. The ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were being excavated from the ravages of time, and the fascination with what was revealed there mixed with the ideal of revolution and republic at home.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBut The Oath of the Horatians was something else and more. The picture was the fulcrum of a new trend, the neoclassical style, which rose up against all the art associated with court life and monarchy in the 18th century. The republicans, the idealists of the revolution, saw all the fluttering ornamentation of the Rococo era as a symbol of a declining upper class that had long since lost all connection with the people and forfeited its leading role. In place of this carefree play, for decoration in palace halls, came the hard line and sharp contours of David's painting. The Oath was therefore a harbinger of revolution in many areas, although it was still four years until the fall of the Bastille, in 1789.","brand":"Bókin.is","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51125524431176,"sku":"OSC-28832","price":3900.0,"currency_code":"ISK","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0916\/4029\/9848\/files\/30529.jpg?v=1754810305","url":"https:\/\/www.bokin.is\/en\/products\/aldateikn-77408-28832","provider":"bokin.is","version":"1.0","type":"link"}