''The Death of Seneca'' is a 1773 oil-on-canvas painting by the 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 ...

, now at the Petit Palais in

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. It shows the suicide of

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

. With its Boucher-like assembly of gesticulating figures, it was his third attempt to win the Prix de Rome, but lost to a painting on the same subject by Pierre Peyron. Peyron's had fewer details and a darker colour palette and was closer to the 'antique'. He was not only David's rival, but also initiated the new classicism which partly inspired David to produce his 1774 ''

Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus' Disease ''Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus' Disease'' (french: Érasistrate découvrant la cause de la maladie d’Antiochius dans son amour pour Stratonice) is a 1774 oil painting by French neoclassical artist Jacques-Louis David. The wor ...

''.

Description

This " Fragonardian" grand opera by David is at the same time baroque, elegant and pompous. Richer in color and detail than its rival, it depicts characters gesticulating in the style of Boucher. Seneca, opening his veins on the orders of Nero, has ample gestures, just like the characters in the audience who show their dread.

References

Bibliography

*Régis Michel and Marie-Catherine Sahut, ''David, l'art et le politique'', Paris, Gallimard, coll. «

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an editorial collection of illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in pocket format. The books are concise introductions to pa ...

» (n° 46), 1988 ()

External links

*http://petitpalais.paris.fr/fr/collections/la-mort-de-seneque Paintings by Jacques-Louis David 1773 paintings Paintings about suicide Cultural depictions of Seneca the Younger Paintings in the collection of the Petit Palais {{18C-painting-stub