Death of Marata in The French Revolution

When looking at the artwork of David Jacque-Louis, entitled “The Death of Marat,” I could see this masterpiece being analyzed in a couple different ways. With my first glance of the painting, I thought for sure it was a young man that was very tired after a long day, who then decided to relax in a sunken in chair covered with green and white cloth, while writing a list and fell asleep. As I look closer to the artwork, I noticed the red stains on the white cloth, and a laceration wound draining with blood running down the right side of his chest. Could he have written a suicide note before cutting himself and dropping the knife on the floor beside him? The writing is in a different language, so I can’t tell if it is a suicide note, letter to a friend or a grocery list. This was just another thought that popped into my head. But besides him slouched over with a bloody wound on the chest, the dark background makes the painting look dull and gloomy, perhaps due to a sad situation.

But after staring at the painting and analyzing it further in detail about what I personally see in the image, it was time for me to explore further and find out the exact truth of what the artist was trying to explain or express. Evidently, sometime in the late 1700’s, it was the year 1793 to be exact. Jacques Louis David painted a portrait that showed the death of his friend, Jean Paul Marat. The artwork was named, “The Death of Marat.” He used a style called neo-classicism, which essentially is a rediscovery of classical art from the Greek and Roman time. This style suggests precise outlines, sculptured format, and refined exterior, which was built from ideals of friendship and discipline. Marat was an outspoken journalist in support of the executions during the French Revolution. He was sitting in his bath tub, which I thought was an old chair, when a lady by the name of Charlotte Corday, came in and stabbed him in the chest.

Corday portrayed Marat as a beast and despite her attempts, she was somewhat obsessed with killing him, in hopes of rescuing France. She was one of the countless people who were not for the extreme efforts of the French Revolution. She was a supporter of the more average Girondist, who engages in war to bring the nation together and to also gain political power. David was asked to plan the funeral and paint a Marat image. He agreed with enthusiasm, but the decaying condition of the body made painting an actual figure of Marat very difficult. This situation messed with his own emotions, which actually prompted him to complete the work of art. David painted the Death of Marat in order to honor Marat’s death and his life accomplishments. Marat’s body was displayed as a well young man. The artwork truly shows Marat is dead, slouched over the side of the tub with a pen still in his hands. He was known for taking medicinal baths to help soothe the severe skin condition he developed from living in sewers, which we can’t really see in the painting, in fact his skin looks smooth and without any problems. David displayed a more idealized impression of Marat’s death.

The wood table and white sheets were the means by which David cautiously bears witness to his respect, appreciation and anger. The knife being on the floor was to keep his body looking uncontaminated and fresh. David wanted Marat to be recognized as someone who was killed because of their religious beliefs and how he died while generating a more suitable future for the new French Republic. The Death of Marat has struck a nerve and spent the last two hundred years becoming a popular painting. What is surprising is that he painted the picture in a very short period of time. Although some onlookers might not know it by the name, they acknowledge its powerful iconography. In comparison to what I interpret the painting to be, and what the actual meaning of the portrait is, was somewhat the same. The limp body position influences the people looking at the painting of Marat, as if he was calmly laid in the bath tub.

This is what I seen in the painting with my first glance at the art work.  The stab wound that is not easily seen on the chest and only a quick look of the bloody sheets shows that some trauma occurred. I viewed it as a possible suicide, which is a similar trauma situation. I didn’t think he was taking a bath because the white cloth wrapped around Marat’s head. If he was presumably bathing, why does he have on the cloth on? The average person would have taken it off to wash their hair. But David looked at the white cloth as the symbol of a halo, representing images of the dead Christ. This portrait is a masterpiece and one of the greatest interest of modern art because, by a bizarre achievement, it has nothing horrible or offensive and it attracts many other artists and viewers that love art.

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