The Death of Marat, by the neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David, depicts the assassination of the French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat on 13 July 1793. Marat was a politician, physicist, doctor and journalist, best known for his bitter pro-revolution speeches and rants.
Belligerent, he did not hesitate to use his pen to slander his opponents and vilify all those who opposed his subversive views. After contracting a skin disease, the journalist spent long hours in his bathtub from where he carried on his battle.
On 13 July 1793, a lady by the name of Charlotte Corday went to his house to give him some compromising information. After a few moments of conversation with Marat, Corday took out a knife that she had hidden under her clothes and stabbed him through the chest.
David grasped his friend's last moments. As he lay in agony, Marat held the request that Charlotte Corday had sent him, asking to meet him. On the floor lies the murder weapon. To conceive this idyllic setting, David drew inspiration from Christian iconography. The dying man's pose and outstretched arm recall The Entombment of Christ. His naked body evokes the corpse of Jesus. The bathtub is reminiscent of a coffin, and the gaping wounds under Marat's collarbone are evoking the stigmata.
David worked in the neoclassical tradition but distinguished his painting by giving it a contemporary twist. He excluded distinctive neoclassical elements such as old costumes and scenery and instead stripped the scene of all ornate elements. He emphasised clear contours, used a rich yet simple colour palette and opted for a steady composition. All these visual means allow the painter to appeal to the reverence and piety of the viewer as if it were a sermon celebrating the martyrdom of Marat.
Nathan
1. Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793, oil on canvas, 128x165 cm, The Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium
Reynold, de Seresin, Eliane, and 50 minutes. Jacques-Louis David et la Peinture D'histoire : Le Chantre de la Révolution et de L'Empire. Lemaitre Publishing, 2015. (ProQuest Ebook Central).
Louis Groarke, "The deceitful artwork: Beautiful falsehood or false beauty?". Humanitas 12 (2): 1999.