How are you?
Currently, I am
introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the
title “Interesting
Art Stories”.
The 49th story is “The Death of
Marat” by Jacques-Louis David.
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| Jacques-Louis David |
“The Death
of Marat” is one of the most famous paintings related to the French Revolution,
painted by Jacques-Louis David in 1793.
It shows Jean-Paul Marat,
the radical journalist, murdered by Charlotte Corday on 13 July 1793, lying
dead in his bath.
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| Jean-Paul Marat |
The painting is now
displayed in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, and at the Louvre there
is a replica created in David's studio.
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| Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium |
Jean-Paul Marat (24 May 1743-13 July 1793) was one of the leaders of the "Montagnards", the radical faction in French politics during the “Reign of Terror” until the “Thermidorian Reaction”.
Charlotte Corday was a Girondin, Marat’s political enemy who blamed him for the “September Massacre”.
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| Charlotte Corday |
She entered Marat’s house and
stabbed him, who often worked in his bath, spending much of his time due to a
skin problem, and then she was executed for the murder.
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| Charlotte Corday, Paul Jacques Aimé Baudry (1860) |
David, the leading French
painter of his generation, was a member of Montagnard, and Jacobin, aligned
with Marat and Maximilien Robespierre.
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| Maximilien Robespierre |
In this painting, which
focuses on the victim, Marat, David idealized his appearance, unlike the real
Marat, who suffers from skin problems, with clean and unblemished skin.
This painting has often been compared to Michelangelo's “Pietà”, whose major similarity is the elongated arm, hanging down.
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| Pietà, Michelangelo (1498–1499) |
David also admired Caravaggio's works, especially the
"Entombment of Christ," influencing this painting.
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| The Entombment of Christ, Caravaggio (1603–1604) |
Widely admired during the Reign of Terror, this painting was slowly forgotten after Robespierre was executed.
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| The execution of Robespierre on 28 July 1794 |
At David's request, the painting was returned to him in 1795, and he was prosecuted for his involvement in Reign of Terror. Then, the painting was forgotten in people's memory and rediscovered by critics in the mid-19th century.
In the 20th century Picasso and Munch created their own version of this painting.
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| Death of Marat, Edvard Munch (1907) |
This painting inspired many
areas in popular culture.
In 1897, French director
Georges Hatot made a silent film entitled “La Mort de Marat.”
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| Movie "La Mort de Marat", Georges Hatot (1897) |
The cover of the 1980 album
“East” by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel was inspired by this painting.
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| Album "East", Cold Chisel (1980) |
In the 2002 movie “About
Schmidt,” Jack Nicholson's character Warren falls asleep in the bath while
writing a letter, reproducing this painting.
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| Movie "About Schmidt" (2002) |
In 2013, Marat in this
painting was replaced by Lady Gaga for ARTPOP.
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| Lady Gaga as Marat |
Thank you.
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