Leonidas at Thermopylae
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''Leonidas at Thermopylae'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist
Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...
. The work currently hangs in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
in
Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. David completed the massive work (3.95 m × 5.31 m) 15 years after he began, working on it from 1799 to 1803 and again in 1813–1814. ''Leonidas at Thermopylae'' was purchased, along with ''
The Intervention of the Sabine Women ''The Intervention of the Sabine Women'' is a 1799 painting by the French painter Jacques-Louis David, showing a legendary episode following the abduction of the Sabine women by the founding generation of Rome. David began planning the work wh ...
'', in November 1819 for 100,000 francs by
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
, the king of France. The piece depicts the Spartan king
Leonidas Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a List of kings of Sparta#Heraclids, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the List of kings of Sparta#Agiad dynasty, Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed d ...
prior to the
Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label=Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting o ...
. David's pupil
Georges Rouget Georges Rouget (26 August 1783 – 9 April 1869) was a neoclassical French painter. Life After studying in the École des Beaux-Arts, Rouget entered David's studio in 1797 and rapidly became his favorite student. Rouget began his professional ...
collaborated on it.


Background

The crowded and theatrical scene that David depicts takes place in a time of war, seemingly in
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
from the Greek temple and temperate mountains in the background. The setting is the mountain pass in which the
Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label=Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting o ...
was about to be fought, in 480 BCE.
Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...
was chosen as an ideal location for waging a defensive action in view of its narrow passage through the mountainous geography. This helped the Greeks make a better stand against the numerically vastly superior
Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...
, who were invading Greece. King Leonidas, the
Spartan Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...
leader, “delayed the invasion of
Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...
and the Persians…by sacrificing himself and his men to give the Greeks the time they needed to organize an ultimately victorious resistance” in the long run. This act of bravery and sacrifice by King Leonidas and his three hundred soldiers inspired David as France waged its own campaigns against rival European powers that wanted to restore France's pre-revolutionary
ancien régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...
. In 1813–14, when he finished the painting, European powers allied against the
First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...
were invading France to topple the emperor,
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, and David again found inspiration in the story of Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae.


Style

When Napoleon Bonaparte saw the exhibit of David's latest paintings in 1799, “he criticized the lack of action and the fixed poses of the warriors in ''The Sabine Women''.” This critique by one of David's heroes compelled David to revisit the classical ideals that inspired him (and the French
Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
). The reworked masterpiece respects classical ideals of male virtue and beauty in its depiction of historical Greek warriors to convey an impression of heroic courage.


Earlier Sketches

David made many sketches before the final oil on canvas composition was executed. A sketch dating back to 1814 is a compositional study that was completed in two separate parts, leaving the final result somewhat choppy and overworked. There are a few differences between this compositional study and the final painting, one of which being a more full view of the background which resulted from the removal of trees and branches from the earlier sketch. Classical male figures were included from the beginning of David's sketches for ''Leonidas at Thermopylae''.


Composition

In ''Leonidas at Thermopylae'', it is implied that the war is deeper than just the main figures in the foreground, with hundreds of other warriors in the battle too. In the foreground, we see that chaos has broken out and the army seems to be in shambles, while the leader of the army remains calm as the war progresses around him. The emphasized man in the center, presumably Leonidas, instantly draws the viewers’ eyes to him. Not only is Leonidas more bathed in light out of any of the partly shadowed figures in the painting, he also has the most static pose while almost everyone else is in motion. In this brief snapshot of a glimpse into an intense battle, he takes a moment to reflect on the war. While he is the leader of his army, Leonidas cannot do this alone; his eyes are upturned toward the heavens, as if to look up to God and beg for help. His facial expression is one of contemplation and almost defeat, as if he knows the fate of him and his army in the battle. The contrast of the only other static man to the right of the leader serves to show that though Leonidas's figure is static, his risen state defines him as the ruler. The figures in the right background look up to Leonidas, signaling that the company sees him as divine. His idealized figure contributes to this notion too, relaying the idea of his strength and bravery during this battle. The golden embroidered cape, fancy helmet, and huge shield all contribute to the idea of Leonidas's high status and primary role in this battle. On the left side, a soldier carves in rock the famous phrase (in Greek), "Go, passer-by, to Sparta tell/Obedient to her law we fell", conveying that Leonidas and his Spartans know their fate and are prepared to die, in the name of their country."Leonidas at Thermopylae," ''Louvre'', accessed December 8, 2017.


Notes


References

* Athanassoglou, Nina. “Under the Sign of Leonidas: The Political and Ideological Fortune of David's Leonidas at Thermopylae Under the Restoration.” '' The Art Bulletin'' 63, no. 4 (December 1981): 633–649. * Bordes, Philippe. '' Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. * John C. Kraft et al. “The Pass at Thermopylae, Greece.” ''Journal of Field Archaeology'' 14, no. 2 (Summer 1987): 181–198. * "Leonidas at Thermopylae." ''Louvre''. Accessed December 8, 2017. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/leonidas-thermopylae. * "Leonidas at Thermopylae." ''The Metropolitan Museum of Art''. Accessed December 8, 2017. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/334245. * Nanteuil, Luc de. '' Jacques-Louis David''.  New York: H.N. Abrams, 1990. {{ACArt Paintings by Jacques-Louis David 1814 paintings Paintings in the Louvre by French artists Cultural depictions of Leonidas I