Salon of 1785

The Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David

The Salon of 1785 was an art exhibition held at the Louvre in Paris. It was organised by Académie Royale and opened on 25 August 1785, the feast day of Saint Louis as was common for the Salon during the Ancien Régime.

Jacques-Louis David's history painting The Oath of the Horatii was the sensation of the Salon.[1] It features a scene from the early years of Rome. The painting's success at the Salon marked the complete victory of Neoclassicism over Rococo style which had dominated in previous decades.[2][3]

David also displayed another classically themed work a version of his Belisarius Begging for Alms.[4] In portraiture the Swedish painter Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller submitted a portrait of the sculptor Jean-Jacques Caffieri, his diploma work for admission to the French Royal Academy.[5] In sculpture, Augustin Pajou presented a statue of the seventeenth century inventor and philosopher Blaise Pascal.[6]

Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée displayed two neoclassical paintings. One of them featured a scene with Alexander the Great but it was the other based on the poem Jerusalem Delivered that received widespread praise from critics, one of whom described it as "perfect".[7]

References

Bibliography

  • Doyle, William. Old Regime France, 1648-1788. Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • Hobbs, Jack A. & Duncan, Robert L. Arts, Ideas, and Civilization. Prentice Hall, 1992.
  • Kelder, Diane. Aspects of Official Painting and Philosophic Art, 1789-1799. Garland Publishing, 1976.
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