A royal commission
The painting was commissioned on the king's behalf. David painted it in Rome, and the canvas is dated 1784.
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Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David · 1784
painting
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The Horatii brothers reach towards swords held by their father while the women beside them grieve. David painted this Roman subject in Rome for a royal commission. Its ordered setting and ancient subject belong to Neoclassicism.
Details
Follow the outstretched hands towards the swords, then compare them with the grieving women. The arcade gives both groups a shared architectural frame. David’s signature records Rome and the date 1784.
In its time
1784
Books from this period
Where it hangs
Musée du Louvre
Room 702
In context
Rome first, then the Salon
David finished the painting in 1785. He first exhibited it in Rome, and it was then shown at the Paris Salon of 1785.
A very large canvas
The oil painting is on a canvas about 330 cm high and 425 cm wide, more than three metres tall and over four metres across.
The story
The painting is commissioned on the king's behalf.
1784. David dates the canvas, naming Rome as the place.
1785. He finishes the painting and shows it first in Rome.
1785. The painting is shown at the Paris Salon.
Today. It hangs in the Louvre, in Paris.
Neoclassicism
The Oath of the Horatii belongs to Neoclassicism. Its story comes from ancient Rome, and its scene is set in an arcade of arches on columns.