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 col…