PAINTING. 117 
himself in his youth to the painting of battle-pieces ; but when in 1774 he 
had gained the great prize of the Academy, he went to Rome and perfected 
himself by the study of Raphael, Michael Angelo, and the Caraccis, 
without, however, taking their best works only as his models. One 
of his first pictures, that of St. oque healing those smitten with the Plague, 
laid the foundation for his future fame. Afterwards, by way of competing 
for the prize, he painted his Lelvsarvus; but having been treated with 
undeserved contempt by the then director Pierre, he withdrew the picture 
and sold it immediately at a much higher price than the amount of the prize. 
In the year 1787 he finished in Rome his Horatw recewing their swords 
from their Father, certainly his most brilliant production, and which 
spread his reputation most widely; still this picture is by no means free 
from faults, for, notwithstanding the correctness of the drawing, the compo- 
sition is so defective, that the whole suggests the idea of an old subaltern 
officer exercising three recruits, and these, like all David’s Romans, have 
the appearance of so many Talmas decked out for the stage. The genuine 
expression of feeling and passion is altogether wanting in the picture; and 
the fact of its receiving such immense applause shows to what a low ebb 
the arts had then sunk in France. Another picture of the like stamp is his 
Brutus condemning his Son ; it was painted in 1789, and many prefer it 
to the Horatii. During the reign of terror, David was the intimate friend 
of Robespierre and also president of the Convention, in which capacity he 
voted for the death of Louis XVI. It was thus in conformity with his sen- 
timents that he painted so many revolutionary scenes, although his zeal 
was likewise excited by other subjects. Thus he painted the Death of 
Socrates ; and his Sabine Women, which he exhibited for some months at 
an admission of 36 sous, brought him over 60,000 francs. Afterwards, 
under Napoleon, David was held in high consideration; but on the 
restoration of Louis XVIII. he was tried as a regicide, and was exiled 
and went to Brussels, where he died in 1826. While David has the merit 
of having aroused art from its torpidity, he is to be censured for having led 
it astray by his exaggeration, affectation, and theatrical scenery. 
Among the members of the school of David we distinguish Francois 
Pascal Gérard, who conferred so much honor upon this so-called Classical 
school. He was born in Rome in 1770, but returned to France with his 
father and studied under David. He lived at first in great indigence, 
and supported himself during the Revolution by working for booksellers. 
In his eleventh year he composed a picture representing the Plague 
which excited the applause of amateurs; but it was his Bel¢sarius, now in 
the Leuchtenberg gallery in Munich (pl. 18, fig. 14), which first made his 
name celebrated. We behold in this picture the noble and unfortunate 
Belisarius, bearing on his arm the stripling who served as his guide, and 
who is now mortally wounded by a snake that still hangs coiled about his 
foot. The background of the picture is lighted by the rays of the setting 
sun. Another very beautiful picture by Gérard is his Cupid and Psyche, 
now in the Palais Luxembourg in Paris; and besides these and a great 
number of portraits, he painted the Four Ages of Life, and for Napoleon 
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