Oath of the Horatii

Movement: Neoclassicism Put this next to The Swing and the change is instant. Three Roman brothers raise their arms to swear an oath to their father before going to fight for their city, while the women behind them collapse in grief. Crisp outlines, a shallow stage-like space, muted colors and a message about duty over feeling: Neoclassicism borrowed ancient Rome to teach virtue. Jacques-Louis David painted it in Rome in 1784 and 1785, and it was a huge success at the Paris Salon of 1785. It is in the Louvre. What came next: Romantic artists pushed back, putting emotion, nature and the individual first.