Jacques-Louis David

Napoleon Crossing the Alps

Completed in four months, from October 1800 to January 1801, it signals the dawning of a new century.
After a decade of terror and uncertainty following the Revolution, France was emerging as a great power
once more. At the heart of this revival, of course, was General Napoleon Bonaparte who, in 1799, had
staged an uprising against the revolutionary government (a coup d’état), installed himself as First
Consul, and effectively become the most powerful man in France (a few years later he would declare
himself emperor).

In May 1800 he led his troops across the Alps in a military campaign against the Austrians which ended
in their defeat in June at the Battle of Marengo. It is this achievement the painting commemorates. The
portrait was commissioned by Charles IV, then King of Spain, to be hung in a gallery of paintings of other
great military leaders housed in the Royal Palace in Madrid.

The Oath of the Horatii

In 1784 Louis XVI commissioned from Jacques-Louis David a life-size depiction of the ancient Roman
story of the Horatii family pledging to fight the Curiatii. That famous painting is now in the Musée du
Louvre, Paris. Toledo’s canvas is a reduced replica ordered from David by the high-ranking courtier
Comte de Vaudreuil. It is close to the original, except that it includes a distaff with spun thread near the
women’s feet. David’s pupil Anne-Louis Girodet (1767–1824) reportedly assisted in making this version.

In a composition inspired by classical relief sculpture, the three Horatii brothers of Rome swear an oath
before their father. They vow to fight to the death against their three cousins, the Curiatii of Alba Longa,
in order to settle a dispute between the two cities with minimum bloodshed. Their tense stances
contrast with the fluid contours of the women, slumped in grief and resignation. Complicating the
situation, the young men were married or betrothed to each other’s sisters. In the unrest leading up to
the French Revolution of 1789, David’s powerful image exhorted restrained emotion, order, and the
sacrifice of the individual for the good of the state.

The Death of Socrates

In this landmark of Neoclassical painting from the years immediately preceding the French Revolution,
David took up a classical story of resisting unjust authority in a sparse, frieze-like composition. The Greek
philosopher Socrates (469–399 B.C.) was convicted of impiety by the Athenian courts; rather than
renounce his beliefs, he died willingly, discoursing on the immortality of the soul before drinking
poisonous hemlock. Through a network of carefully articulated gestures and expressions, David’s figures
act out the last moments of Socrates’s life. He is about to grasp the cup of hemlock, offered by a disciple
who cannot bear to witness the act. David consulted antiquarian scholars in his pursuit of an
archeologically exacting image, including details of furniture and clothing; his inclusion of Plato at the
foot of the bed, however, deliberately references not someone present at Socrates’s death but, rather,
the author whose text, Phaedo, had preserved this ancient story into modern times.

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

La Fornarina

Originally conceived as part of a series of paintings documenting the life of Ingres's idol, Raphael, La
Fornarina shows the Renaissance master in the arms of his alleged mistress. Although Ingres ultimately
abandoned the project, he painted five or six versions of this scene. It allowed him to showcase both his
adoration for Raphael and demonstrate his mastery of the precise and illusionistic style.

Frequently quoting from the oeuvre of Raphael, Ingres positioned himself as the modern-day
descendent of the revered painter. In this work, he gives the viewer an intimate insight into the personal
and professional life of his idol. We are situated in Raphael's studio, his latest canvas barely begun on
the easel before him. Yet, Raphael's model, la Fornarina (the baker's daughter) has risen from her pose
to embrace the artist. Raphael is still engrossed in his work: he holds a paintbrush in his hand, his gaze
firmly fixed on his painting. On the other hand, his model looks out to the viewer. The focus, and
possibly the sacrifices, of the artist is the underlying moral to this painting - Raphael (and maybe Ingres
as well) must not abandon the high calling of art to pursue the pleasures of love and leisure.

The attention of these two main figures is further complicated by the painted figures: Raphael's sketch
and the Madonna of the Chair, visible in the background. Both are based on La Fornarina, and all three
women stare at the viewer as reality and art are brought together. Of course, in Ingres's painting, all the
figures are fictitious, but the point is made: for Raphael, and by extension, for Ingres, there is a seamless
flow between art and life. That Ingres's own wife posed as the model for La Fornarina further
emphasizes this connection between the artists.

The Vow of Louis XIII

When Ingres left Paris for Italy in 1806, he swore that he would not come back until he was
acknowledged as a serious and important history painter. This 1824 altarpiece allowed his triumphant
return, as this hometown commission for the Montauban Cathedral was highly celebrated. The
monumental painting, which measures nearly 14 feet high, was a challenging subject that brought
together historical and religious iconographies and spaces. The scene commemorates an iconic moment
from the reign of King Louis XIII from 1638, when he pledged the dedication of France to the Virgin
Mary. This act, which had been celebrated as an annual holiday prior to the Revolution of 1789, had
recently been reinstated under the Restoration period, which returned the Bourbon kings to the French
throne. It was, therefore, a historical episode with very specific contemporary meaning, promising a
divine benevolence and reinforcing the absolutist claim to rule. The Vow of Louis XIII demonstrates
Ingres's ability to meld the historical and the contemporary, translating the classical scene into the
simplified visual vocabulary of the 19th century.

The narrative required Ingres to carefully balance the composition between the earthly realm of Louis
XIII and the heavenly sphere above. Ingres created two different atmospheres to distinguish between
the spaces, bathing the Virgin Mary in a warm, idealized glow and emphasizing the materiality and
textures of Louis XIII in a more concrete fashion. Again, Ingres drew heavily from art historical
precedents, closely modeling his Virgin on Raphael's Sistine Madonna. The comparison was successful
and positioned Ingres as the modern-day descendant of the Renaissance tradition, an important
distinction as 1824 also marked the rise of Romanticism.

Before the painting's installation in Montauban Cathedral, it was exhibited at the Salon of 1824, an early
battleground between the traditions of Neoclassicism and the emerging challenges of Romanticism.
Compared to the expressive colors and contemporary subject of Eugène Delacroix's Scenes from the
Massacres at Scio (1824), which were perceived as troublingly revolutionary (even incendiary),
Ingres's Vow was seen as a bastion of tradition. Thus, despite the mixed reception of Ingres's earlier
works and his departures from the Neoclassical, Ingres became the great defender of the classical
tradition, a reputation that would follow him throughout his career. The year after this success, Ingres
was awarded the Legion of Honor and elected to membership in the Academy, securing his reputation.

The Apotheosis of Homer

As the newly crowned defender of the academic tradition, Ingres was commissioned to decorate a
ceiling in the Louvre to coincide with the opening of the Musée Charles X. This museum intended to
demonstrate the cultural superiority of France and thereby reinforce the legitimacy of its monarch.
Critical to this endeavor was the establishment of a continuum that stretched from the ancient world to
modern-day France, and thus Ingres's Apotheosis of Homer became a project of political and cultural
legitimization. Its pantheon of Western culture celebrates the lineage of classical thinkers and draws
heavily from Raphael's School of Athens (1509-1511) from the papal apartments in Rome.

Where Raphael's work centered around a dialogue between Plato and Aristotle, Ingres's cultural
celebration honors Homer as the originator of Western civilization. He sits in the center of the
composition, crowned with a laurel wreath by Nike, the goddess of victory, and flanked by
personifications of his two masterpieces, The Iliad (at left, a sword resting beside her) and The
Odyssey (at right, an oar resting against her leg). Homer is surrounded by over 40 figures from the
Western canon, including the Greek sculptor Phidias (holding a mallet), the great philosophers Socrates
and Plato (turned toward each other in dialogue to the left of Phidias), Alexander the Great (at far right
in golden armor), among others. Ingres also includes figures from more recent centuries; below
Alexander the Great sits Michelangelo, drawing board in hand. William Shakespeare stands beside the
painter Nicolas Poussin at bottom left, joined by Mozart and the poet Dantë. Ingres's hero and
inspiration, Raphael is dressed in a dark tunic joining hands with the Greek painter Apelles and between
them, a mostly obscured figure with a youthful face is allegedly a portrait of the young Ingres himself.

Whether or not this is a self-portrait, Ingres has clearly defined his cultural ancestry and affirmed the
superiority of classical values. Art historian Andrew Carrington Shelton has labeled the Apotheosis a
"highly personalized aesthetic manifesto." Not only did this support the reign of his patron, Charles X,
but it also strengthened Ingres's claim as the modern representative of this tradition and its deep
cultural significance. While some critics found the work to be formulaic and stiff, especially when
compared to Delacroix's dynamic Death of Sardinapalus, shown in the 1827 Salon, it was also soundly
defended by more politically and aesthetically conservative voices. Étienne Delécluze, a friend of Ingres
and a highly regarded critic, upheld the Apotheosis as the expression of ideal beauty, directly comparing
Ingres to the artists who are included in his painting. At a moment in culture when classical values were
giving way to more bourgeois taste and politics - embodied by the revolutionary contemporaneity of
Romantic painting - Ingres stakes his claim and aligns himself with the Académie and its heroes.

Jean-Baptiste Debret

First remittance of the Legion d Honneur 15 July 1804 at Saint Louis des Invalides

William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) was an important academic painter of 19th-century France.
His works mainly cover religious and literary subjects as well as portraits. He is known for the great
emphasis on precision in depiction, meticulous details, and bright coloring, presenting an overall
tranquil style. This painting was exhibited in the 1863 Paris Salon and later collected by Empress
Eugénie.

The painting depicts John the Baptist, who became bereaved at the age of seven, in the company and
care of Madonna and little Jesus in the wilderness. Sitting on a rock, Mary holds Christ in one hand and
takes a spindle in the other, indicating indicates her virtue. Embracing little Jesus and John the Baptist in
camel leather, she also represents caring motherhood. The infant Jesus looks at John the Baptist, whose
head is tilted, and is about to kiss him with a childlike innocence. The three figures convey peaceful
expressions, and their eye contacts and postures all reveal calmness and intimacy; the triangular
composition helps stabilize the picture.
Throughout his life, Bouguereau remained a supporter of academic paintings. Like Alexandre Cabanel,
he was opposed to Realism and Impressionism. However, with changes in artistic trends, this adherent
of French academism gradually sank into oblivion. (Yu Han HSU)

* Portrait of Elizabeth Jane Gardner

This portrait, created in 1879, was commissioned in commemoration of their engagement. It is a

companion piece to Self-portrait (1879) which is housed in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. With a
three-quarter profile, Gardner looks directly at the viewer with her clear eyes. Her rosy cheeks
accentuate her gentle and peaceful expression. The smile on her lips reveals her joy over the
engagement. Wearing a standing collar and a dark green satin trimmed with yellow, green and blue lace,
she looks modest but gorgeous. The pair of black gem earrings and brooch highlight her elegant and
graceful temperament. Bouguereau vividly portrays Gardner’s expression, clothing and elegance with
his detailed and exquisite techniques and a serene atmosphere advocated in the contemporary
Academic art, making this piece highly typical of his portrait paintings. (Yu Han HSU)

William-AdolpheBouguereau painted L’Innocence in 1893. In this painting, he followed the 16th-century

style. He seemed to follow the footsteps of Raphael who was inspired by the ancients, yet no one
accused him of being unoriginal. In most of his works, he adopted the classical approach to subject
matter, form and composition. Throughout the 1800s he was involved in painting for the Catholic
Church.

In Innocence, the Virgin Mary is seen holding her sleeping son Jesus on one hand, and on the other, a
little lamb. The painting signifies the future sacrifice of Jesus. It is viewed as the perfect gift for an
expectant mother, where she can hang in the nursery or a present to a woman who has already given
birth to celebrate her newborn. The painting featured in a wood frame can be found in three sizes
including 12x24, 8x16 and 5x10.