Jacques Louis David was born in prosperous family. His single mother decided to dedicate him to architecture, but David failed in the University of Paris, and eventually came to study painting in the Royal Academy. David is considered to be the founder of the French Neoclassicism. In fact, in his painting style are united three areas: rococo, neo-classicism and romanticism. The artist already in his younger years was honored to be put next to the outstanding French Rococo artist Francois Boucher, the creator of elegant style. The echoes of sensual and frivolous painting elements of Boucher`s style can be clearly seen in the early works of David, such as "The Battle of Mars with Minerva" (1771). Here, the battle scene is overloaded with irrelevant on the field of …show more content…
Surviving are household items, jewelry artists have opened the ancient world. Even more enthusiastic creative people was warmed appeared shortly in books of German archaeologist and a connoisseur of antiquities Johann Winckelmann (1717-1768): voluminous writing "Antiquities of Herculaneum", output from 1755 to 1792, and "The History of Ancient Art" (1764). In his studies, Winckelmann urged artists strive to create the ideal of beauty, based on preserved specimens of ancient art. These books have become cult for all of Europe. "All Paris is playing in Greece, - said one traveler who visited in those years the French capital. Almost all the girls wear the Greek hairstyle. Even the smallest on the status of resident wishes to his snuffbox was "ancient". As the "Portrait of Madame Recamier," written by David in 1800, the fashion for "Greek style" persisted until the end of the XVIII century and served as a source for creating a different style - an empire style, which flourished in the time of Napoleon 's