Hi webweaverlady,
The following are various excerpts of the history, in plain english :)
of the painting by Jacques-Louis David called The Oath of the Horatii:
??The story was taken from Titus-Livy. We are in the period of the
wars between Rome and Alba, in 669 B.C. It has been decided that the
dispute between the two cities must be settled by an unusual form of
combat to be fought by two groups of three champions each. The two
groups are the three Horatii brothers and the three Curiatii brothers.
The drama lay in the fact that one of the sisters of the Curiatii,
Sabina, is married to one of the Horatii, while one of the sisters of
the Horatii, Camilla, is betrothed to one of the Curiatii. Despite the
ties between the two families, the Horatii's father exhorts his sons
to fight the Curiatii and they obey, despite the lamentations of the
women.?
(?)
??The viewer's eye is spontaneously able to grasp only two
superimposed orders- that of the figures and that of the decor. The
first is striking because it is organized into three different groups,
each with a different purpose. To the appeal of the elder Horatius in
the center, the reply on the left is the spontaneous vigor of the
oath, upheld loudly and with a show of strength, while on the right it
is a tearful anguish, movement turned in upon itself, compressed into
emotion. The distance between the figures accentuates this contrast.
To the heroic determination of the men the canvas opposes the
devastated grief of the women and the troubled innocence of the
children.?
Source:
Boston College: Jacques-Louis David-The Oath of the Horatii
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/neocl_dav_oath.html
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??The theme is dramatic and heroic: the tragic consequences of war.
Briefly, the three Horatii brothers must fight the three Curiatii
brothers as part of a war between Rome and Alba. Unfortunately the
sister of the Horatii, Camilla, is involved with the belligerents on
both sides, since she is betrothed to one of the Curiatii brothers. As
in the stark contrast between the light of the foreground and the
darkness of the background, there is also a strict separation and
confrontation between the men?s and the women?s spaces. The men are
the blind followers of duty who, without involving their feelings,
obey the law of the day, while the women and the children, helpless in
the face of the fateful situation, sit hunched up in the background.
Their rigid, death-like postures draw them into a quite different
sphere which the observer can interpret as a realization of the
destructive results of the men?s oath-taking?
Source:
Ordrupgaard: Classicism
http://www.ordrupgaard.dk/UK/stilarter/stil/klassicisme.html
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?One of David?s most important paintings, The Oath of the Horatii
(Figure 47), completely embraces the ideals of the neoclassical style.
The three Horatii brothers solemnly swear to their father to avenge
themselves on a rival family, the Curiatii. The solemnity of the
painting is heightened by the three sisters? distress. Dramatically,
one sister is married to a Curiatii brother, but must support her
brothers in their act of honor. The figures? poses recall
Winckelmannian ?classical? emphasis on calm stance. The clothing and
subject matter of the painting is classical in style. This piece also
contains a moral theme?the importance of the oath and defending one?s
family honor.?
Source:
Wedgewood Thesis
http://www.geocities.com/pbeary/wedgwood4_3.html
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?The subject of "The Oath of the Horatii," Le Serment des Horaces, is
a supposed incident in the story for which we are indebted to Livy.
Corneille founded upon this story his play, "Horace," to which in our
day, the genius of Rachel gave a new life. The story is so familiar as
hardly to need repetition. To avert the horrors of a war between the
Romans and the Albans, for supremacy, three noble youths on each side
agreed to stake their lives upon the issue of a personal combat. The
three Roman youths representing the Horatian family agreed to fight
the three Albans belonging to the Curiatian family. It happened that
the sister of the Horatii was beloved by one of the Curiatii, and
David in his picture imagines her sitting weeping with her mother and
another sister, while her brothers take the oath to their father, who
holds their swords and bids them swear never to return from the field
unless they come as conquerors. The fight took place. Two of the
Horatii were killed; the three Curiatii were sorely disabled, and the
remaining brother of the Horatii pretending to flee, killed his
wounded pursuers one by one, and returned alive and safe to Rome. But,
as he entered the city his sister came with the rest to meet him, and
while their faces were radiant with joy, hers was bathed in tears for
the lover she had lost. Enraged at the sight of her tears her brother
thrust his sword into her bosom exclaiming, "Go, and meet the enemy of
your country in the land of the dead!"?
Source:
Scribbler Grafix
http://www.scribblergrafix.com/theAttic/art_artists/11_David.htm
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Search criteria:
?The Oath of the Horatii? history
?history of? ?The Oath of the Horatii?
I hope the information provided is helpful. If you have any questions
regarding my answer, or the history of this painting still doesn't
make sense, please don't hesitate to ask before rating it.
Best regards,
rainbow-ga |
,
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