Jacques-louis David, the Emperor of the painters

David Chanteranne, historian, art historian, author, director of the Historic Sites of the city of Rueil-Malmaison, editor-in-chief of the Revue du Souvenir Napoléonien, director of the Institut Napoléon

Master of Neoclassicism, Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) continues to impress visitors to the Louvre. Considered as one of the great painters of the history of France, he was also a prominent politician, who did not escape the fracas of the Revolution or the imperial epic. Intransigent Republican, he sketches theSerment of the Jeu de Paumeand delivers ignited speeches at the rostrum. After being president of the Convention in 1794, he escaped the scaffold from the fall of Robespierre. He meets Bonaparte during the Italian campaign and realizes for him his greatest masterpieces –Passage of the Grand Saint-Bernard,Sacre de Napoléon,Distribution of Eagles – accompanied by a large series of official portraits. The end of his life, in exile in Brussels, will not alter his prestige with a generation of disciples who will prolong his teaching and style.