One of the most famous paintings is a work by the French painter Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). It depicts in a poignant and shocking manner the murder of one of the most extreme leaders during the French Revolution, Jean-Paul Marat.
David was a painter who identified with the French Revolution, even during the period known as the “Reign of Terror,” in which many Frenchmen were executed, whom the extremist leaders considered “enemies of the revolution.” One of these leaders was Jean-Paul Marat, a doctor by profession who stood out as a thinker and journalist whose articles were very venomous towards opponents of the ruling group of which he was a member. Many saw him as the ideologist of the Reign of Terror and the one most responsible for the many executions. A young woman named Charlotte Corday, from the Normandy region in the north France, decided to take action to eliminate the Reign of Terror by assassinating the leader. She arrived in Paris and planned the political assassination, believing that by doing so she would be serving her country. Using a forged letter allowing her entry into Marat's house, she arrived at his apartment on the morning of July 13.7.1793, 17.7.1793. At that time, he was at home, soaking in a bath full of medicinal salts to treat the severe skin disease he suffered from. She handed him the letter and while he was reading it, she stabbed him with a dagger she had hidden in the folds of her dress. He died immediately. She was arrested, tried, and executed by guillotine four days after the murder, on July XNUMX, XNUMX.
David was appointed to be in charge of the funeral arrangements and was asked to paint Marat's death. In the painting, he depicts Marat lying in a blood-filled bathtub, his head hanging to the side, his right hand lying lifeless on the floor of the room. Marat himself appears peaceful, his white headscarf creating the impression of an aura, and the very pose, including the stab wound in his chest, is reminiscent of the pose of the dead Jesus in his mother's arms, in Michelangelo's famous work, the "Pieta" in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. David undoubtedly wanted to give his dead friend the aura of a martyr, a martyr of the revolution, a kind of secular saint. He combines ideal elements in the painting, an embellishment of reality, such as his quiet face and the absence of many details in the room, along with highly realistic elements, such as the large amount of blood clearly visible in the bathtub, the knife lying on the floor and covered in blood, and the murderer's letter, which Mara holds in his hand and is stained with drops of his blood. David's admiration for the murdered is expressed in emphasizing additional details in the work. On the wooden table is an inkwell, a bill, and a letter that says, "Give the bill to the mother of five whose husband died defending the homeland," to emphasize that this was the subject he was dealing with before his murder. On the side of the table is an inscription in large letters that says, "To Mara of David," as a kind of dedication to the memory of the deceased. At the bottom of the table is the date written in French - "The Second Year." Since this is a political painting, it is natural that the painter would indicate the date according to the new calendar that was introduced French Revolution A year earlier. In this calendar, the months are called by different names and the month is divided into 3 weeks of ten days each.
The painting is currently on display at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium.
It is painted in oil on canvas and measures 160 x 125 cm.