Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David was born in Paris on 30 August 1748 and trained as a painter in the Neoclassical style. In the 1780s his cerebral history paintings shifted taste away from Rococo frivolity toward classical severity and heightened feeling, making him the preeminent painter of the era's final Ancien Régime years. He became an active supporter of the French Revolution and friend of Maximilien Robespierre, effectively dictating the arts under the Republic until Robespierre's fall landed him in prison. Upon release he aligned with Napoleon, developing his Empire style with its warm Venetian colors and producing works like Napoleon Crossing the Alps and The Coronation of Napoleon. After Napoleon's fall and the Bourbon revival, David exiled himself to Brussels in 1816, where he remained until his death on 29 December 1825, leaving behind a trail of pupils and paintings - The Death of Marat among them - that made him the strongest influence in early 19th-century French art.