Where can you see Jacques-Louis David in Paris?

At the Louvre Museum: The Coronation of Napoleon, The Oath of the Horatii, Portrait of Madame Récamier and The Intervention of the Sabine Women. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Jacques-Louis David's most famous work in Paris?

The Coronation of Napoleon, of 1805 to 1807, at the Louvre Museum. Notre-Dame, 2 December 1804: Napoleon, already crowned, crowns Josephine. More than six metres high and nearly ten wide, with over a hundred portraits. It is in the great red rooms of French painting in the Denon wing.

When and where was Jacques-Louis David born?

On 30 August 1748, at Paris, France. Jacques-Louis David died on 29 December 1825, at Brussels, Belgium, aged about 77.

What is Jacques-Louis David known for?

First painter to Napoleon. Voted for the execution of Louis XVI. The Coronation of Napoleon is nearly ten metres wide. Jacques-Louis David was a French painter, of Neoclassicism.

Painter, 1748 to 1825

Jacques-Louis David

David painted for a king, voted for that king's death, painted the Revolution and then became first painter to the emperor. His largest canvases have never left Paris.

Born: 1748, Paris, France
Died: 1825, Brussels, Belgium
Movement: Neoclassicism
In Paris: 4 works in 1 museum

Where to see Jacques-Louis David in Paris

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Louvre Museum4 works

The Coronation of Napoleon
1805 to 1807
Notre-Dame, 2 December 1804: Napoleon, already crowned, crowns Josephine. More than six metres high and nearly ten wide, with over a hundred portraits. It is in the great red rooms of French painting in the Denon wing.
The Oath of the Horatii
1784
Three Roman brothers swear to their father to fight to the death for the city. The picture that made neoclassicism the style of a generation.
Portrait of Madame Récamier
1800
The most admired hostess in Paris, barefoot on an antique couch in a bare room. David never finished it, and the kind of sofa has been called a récamier ever since.
The Intervention of the Sabine Women
1799
The Sabine women throw themselves between their Roman husbands and their own fathers and brothers. David painted it after his release from prison, as a plea for reconciliation.

The life of Jacques-Louis David

David was born in Paris in 1748 and made his name in 1784 with the Oath of the Horatii, a picture of Roman severity that read, five years later, like a call to revolution. He sat in the revolutionary Convention, voted for the execution of Louis XVI, and organised the festivals of the Republic. When Robespierre fell he was imprisoned.

Napoleon made him his first painter, and David gave the Empire its image. After Waterloo he was banished as a regicide and died in exile in Brussels in 1825. His pupils, Ingres among them, dominated French painting for a generation.

What to know

First painter to Napoleon
Voted for the execution of Louis XVI
The Coronation of Napoleon is nearly ten metres wide

Born: 30 August 1748, Paris, France
Died: 29 December 1825, Brussels, Belgium

Jacques-Louis David: common questions

Where can you see Jacques-Louis David in Paris?: At the Louvre Museum: The Coronation of Napoleon, The Oath of the Horatii, Portrait of Madame Récamier and The Intervention of the Sabine Women. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Jacques-Louis David's most famous work in Paris?: The Coronation of Napoleon, of 1805 to 1807, at the Louvre Museum. Notre-Dame, 2 December 1804: Napoleon, already crowned, crowns Josephine. More than six metres high and nearly ten wide, with over a hundred portraits. It is in the great red rooms of French painting in the Denon wing.
When and where was Jacques-Louis David born?: On 30 August 1748, at Paris, France. Jacques-Louis David died on 29 December 1825, at Brussels, Belgium, aged about 77.
What is Jacques-Louis David known for?: First painter to Napoleon. Voted for the execution of Louis XVI. The Coronation of Napoleon is nearly ten metres wide. Jacques-Louis David was a French painter, of Neoclassicism.