David, Jacques Louis 1748-1825
French painter

Born in Paris, he won the Prix de Rome in 1774, and in Rome devoted himself to drawing from classical models. It is in his works of the 1780s, such as the Oath of the Horatii (1784), Death of Socrates (1788) and Brutus Condemning his Son (1789), that the Neoclassical style is first clearly discernible and he became the leading artist of the Neoclassical movement. David entered with enthusiasm into the Revolution, and in 1792 became a representative for Paris in the Convention. He voted for the death of Louis XVI, was a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and was the artistic director of the great national f�tes founded on classical customs. After Robespierre's death he was twice imprisoned, and narrowly escaped with his life. Released in 1795, he produced his masterpiece, The Rape of the Sabines (1799), and in 1804 was appointed court painter by Napoleon I. After the Bourbon restoration he was banished in 1816 as a regicide.