Wednesday, September 15, 2010: Oath of the Horatii, by Jacques Louis David

Today in class we struck a milestone in the manner to interdisplinary thought in the area of Humanities and eastern study. We did exactly what it is going to take to construct a feasible essay and one that can engage in a credible argument. This topic will deal with taking a piece of literature, breaking it down into characteristics and traits and compare it to relative pieces of an era. A piece that we used in class was the Oath of the Horatii, by Jacques Louis David. This painting offers many different ideas to the viewer: one that is upfront and direct, and others that are more sublime and indirect.

This piece is as excellent example of a work of art from the 18^th Century, particularly one of the Neo-Classical era. Traits of the 18^th Century comprise of power/authority, emotion, and order, which are all symbols that this work of art displays. As Dr. Crowther told us, when first observing a work of art, examine exactly what you see before you look in-depth into the piece.

Following the words of Tom, first things first, let’s take a GOOD look. Stating this you can immediately see that the artwork has, three soldiers, a man holding swords and women to the farthest right, who look as though they are tired or weeping. With this knowledge I am able to relate the trait of emotion to the piece. Heading back toward the left, study the three soldiers, well first observe the attire, and considering the era this painting was created, people of this time did not wear this apparel. They had the appeal of the Roman soldier. This clearly reflects on the period, Neo-Classical, or reviving the Greco-Roman artistry.

Additionally, another trait lively represented in the piece, is order. You can see, as David has seemed to split the canvas into thirds, horizontally and vertically. Lowest you can see the women, next the men in the center, and lastly the arches at the top, which are significant in the profound the order the Greeks demonstrate with their building of columns with their formulas, and the Roman arch included.

Lastly, the representation of power is thoroughly shown by the outfits of the men, the sons, by wearing the average Roman soldiers’ battle wear. We all know the power that the Roman nation harnessed at one time in history. The columns as even today, these structures still stand even after centuries of weathering.

Also, one can look at the stance the soldiers stand in where their legs resemble a triangle, which is proven to be geometrically the strongest element in architecture.

Word Count: 436