Jacques-Louis David
French·1748–1825
No Portrait Available
Neoclassical master Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) dominated French painting for decades, shifting art from Rococo frivolity toward classical austerity. His history paintings intended as moral exemplars: The Oath of the Horatii (1784) and Death of Socrates (1787) embody civic virtue and sacrifice. As painter during the French Revolution and Napoleon's reign, David created iconic images of both the Terror and Empire, including The Death of Marat and The Coronation of Napoleon.
David initially studied under Francois Boucher before winning the Prix de Rome in 1774. Years in Italy studying antiquity transformed his style. Returning to Paris, he became a member of the Academy in 1783. During the Revolution, David was a friend of Robespierre and effectively "dictator of the arts." Napoleon appointed him "First Painter to the Emperor" in 1804. After Waterloo, David exiled himself to Brussels, remaining there until death. He trained hundreds of young painters, including Ingres and Gros. The Louvre holds The Oath of the Horatii and The Coronation of Napoleon; The Death of Marat is at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
Primary Genres
Gallery Locations1 work with exact room numbers
Notable Works by Jacques-Louis David
25 paintings catalogued with museum locations
T
The Death of Marat
Jacques-Louis David, 1793
Louvre, Paris, Paris
T
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries
Jacques-Louis David, 1812
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
T
The Pain of Andromache
Jacques-Louis David
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), Paris, Paris
S
St. Roch Praying to the Virgin for an End to the Plague
Jacques-Louis David
Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille, Marseille, Marseille
P
Portrait de Marie-Joséphine Buron
Jacques-Louis David
Private Collection, Unknown
P
Portrait of Jacques Francois Desmaisons
Jacques-Louis David
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
T
The Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David, 1784
Louvre, Paris, Paris
N
Napoleon Crossing the Alps
Jacques-Louis David, 1801
T
The Grief of Andromache
Jacques-Louis David
Petit Palais, Paris, Paris
T
The Funeral of Patroclus
Jacques-Louis David
Private Collection, Unknown
T
The Death of Seneca
Jacques-Louis David
Petit Palais, Paris, Paris
T
The Combat of Mars and Minerva
Jacques-Louis David
Louvre, Paris, Paris
S
Sorrow
Jacques-Louis David
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), Paris, Paris
P
Portrait of Michel-Jean Sedaine
Jacques-Louis David
Private Collection, Unknown
P
Portrait of Marie Francoise Buron
Jacques-Louis David
National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers, Algiers, Algeria
P
Portrait of Francois Buron
Jacques-Louis David
Private Collection, Unknown
P
Portrait of Alphonse Leroy
Jacques-Louis David
Musée Fabre, Montpellier, Montpellier
P
Patroclus
Jacques-Louis David
Musée Thomas-Henry, Cherbourg, Cherbourg
M
Male Nude known as Hector
Jacques-Louis David
Musée Fabre, Montpellier, Montpellier
M
Mademoiselle Guimard
Jacques-Louis David
Private Collection, Unknown
E
Equestrian Portrait of Stanislas Kostka Potocki
Jacques-Louis David
National Museum, Poznań, Poznań
D
Diana and Apollo piercing with their arrows the children of Niobe
Jacques-Louis David
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
B
Belisarius Begging for Alms
Jacques-Louis David
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Lille, Lille
A
Antiochus and Stratonice
Jacques-Louis David
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), Paris, Paris
T
The Coronation of Napoleon
Jacques-Louis David, 1807
Louvre, Paris, Paris
Museums with Jacques-Louis David's Work
13 museums display David's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.
+2
Private Collection
Unknown, Unknown
5 works on display
Portrait of Michel-Jean Sedaine
The Funeral of Patroclus
+1
Louvre, Paris
Paris, France
4 works on display
The Death of MaratNeoclassical Gallery
The Coronation of Napoleon
National Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C., United States
1 work on display
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries
Musée Fabre, Montpellier
Montpellier, France
2 works on display
Portrait of Alphonse Leroy
Male Nude known as Hector
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Lille
Lille, France
1 work on display
Belisarius Begging for Alms
Petit Palais, Paris
Paris, France
2 works on display
The Death of Seneca
The Grief of Andromache
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), Paris
Paris, France
3 works on display
Sorrow
Antiochus and Stratonice
Musée Thomas-Henry, Cherbourg
Cherbourg, France
1 work on display
Patroclus
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas, United States
1 work on display
Diana and Apollo piercing with their arrows the children of Niobe
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Buffalo, United States
1 work on display
Portrait of Jacques Francois Desmaisons
National Museum, Poznań
Poznań, Poland
1 work on display
Equestrian Portrait of Stanislas Kostka Potocki
National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers, Algiers
Algeria, Unknown
1 work on display
Portrait of Marie Francoise Buron
Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille, Marseille
Marseille, France
1 work on display
St. Roch Praying to the Virgin for an End to the Plague
Related Artists
Other Neoclassicism artists you might like
About Jacques-Louis David
David was the leading painter of Neoclassicism, almost single-handedly shifting French painting from the frivolous Rococo toward classical austerity and moral seriousness. His stark compositions, sculptural figures, and subjects drawn from Roman history became the visual language of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire.
David was far more than a sympathizer—he was a Revolutionary leader, elected to the National Convention and serving on the Committee of General Security. As friend of Robespierre and effective "dictator of the arts," he organized Revolutionary festivals, designed propaganda, and voted for Louis XVI's execution in January 1793.
The Louvre holds his greatest works: The Oath of the Horatii (1784), The Death of Marat (1793), and The Coronation of Napoleon (1807), which spans an enormous 32 by 20 feet. The Musées Royaux in Brussels, his city of exile, also holds major works.
David trained the next generation of French painting, including Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, who carried Neoclassical precision into the nineteenth century, and Antoine-Jean Gros, whose Romantic battlefield scenes anticipated Delacroix. His studio methods and emphasis on drawing from antique sculpture shaped French art education for generations.
The Oath of the Horatii (1784) launched Neoclassicism with its austere geometry and Roman virtue. The Death of Marat (1793) transformed a murdered Revolutionary into a secular martyr. The Coronation of Napoleon (1807) documented imperial spectacle on a monumental scale unmatched in French painting.
After Waterloo and the Bourbon restoration, David faced exile as a regicide who had voted for Louis XVI's death. He refused to request amnesty, instead settling in Brussels in 1816, where he painted portraits and mythological subjects until his death in 1825. He is buried in Brussels.
Love Jacques-Louis David's Style?
Explore art inspired by Neoclassicism.
Browse CollectionAre you an artist? Sell your art online with Luxury Wall Art.