Jacques-Louis David / Leonidas at Thermopylae / ca. 1814

Jacques-Louis David
Leonidas at Thermopylae
ca. 1814
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Creator Name: David, Jacques-Louis
Creator Role: Artist
Creator Dates/Places: 1748-1825
Creator Name-CRT: Jacques-Louis David
Title: Leonidas at Thermopylae
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 1812
Creation End Date: 1816
Creation Date: ca. 1814
Object Type: Drawings and Watercolors
Materials and Techniques: Black chalk, squared in black chalk
Dimensions: 16 x 21 5/8 in. (40.6 x 54.9 cm)
AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 63.1
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1963
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/
Context:

This is a compositional study for David's large canvas of the same subject, signed and dated 1814 and today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. The drawing was executed in two distinct stages, offering a view into the artist's creative process. Over a detailed, lightly sketched composition David reworked the sheet in a darker, more emphatic black chalk, refining and simplifying the landscape and figures, especially on the right side. Leonidas, leader of the Spartan troops, is shown calm and unwavering as his men prepare to battle the Persians at the pass of Thermopylae. Many of the poses and figural types used by David refer to classical prototypes, as does the practice-debated during David's time-of depicting classical warriors nude.

AMICA ID: MMA_.63.1
AMICA Library Year: 2000
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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