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Leonidas at Thermopylae

ca. 1812–13
Not on view
This is a compositional study for David's large canvas of the same subject, signed and dated 1814 and today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. As his commissions for Napoleon dried up, David returned to a mythological painting he had begun planning fifteen years earlier as a pendant (pairing) to the Intervention of the Sabine Women. It depicts the legendary Spartan king Leonidas, who would perish with three hundred soldiers at Thermopylae, where they were vastly outnumbered by the Persian army of Xerxes.
In this working drawing, the artist’s evolving ideas appear laid down in a rush, perhaps intermittently, progressing from a pale initial sketch to emphatic revisions in a darker shade. Many of the poses and figural types used by David refer to classical prototypes, as does the practice—debated during David's time—of depicting classical warriors nude.emingly oblivious to the tumult swirling around him, Leonidas maintains a statuesque stillness, lost in contemplation of his soldiers’ impending sacrifice.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Leonidas at Thermopylae
  • Artist: Jacques Louis David (French, Paris 1748–1825 Brussels)
  • Date: ca. 1812–13
  • Medium: Black chalk; squared in black chalk
  • Dimensions: 16 x 21 5/8 in. (40.6 x 54.9 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1963
  • Object Number: 63.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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