Lucius Junius Brutus (LVCIVS IVNIVS BRVTVS) was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first consuls in 509 BC. He was claimed as an ancestor of the Roman gens Junia, including Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Caesar’s assassins. Brutus was a hero of Republicanism during the Enlightenment and Neoclassical periods, and artists like Jacques-Louis David painted scenes of his life. Continue reading
Image-maker to Napoleon. Political exile. Jacques-Louis David was the most famous—and controversial—artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) was the most famous painter in Europe in the late 1700s and early 1800s. He breathed new life into history painting with his rigorously constructed compositions, which distilled complex stories to their essential elements. His spare, taut style influenced countless other artists in France and abroad. Passionately committed to artistic freedom and innovation, David experimented constantly with style and subject matter. Continue reading
