ARTS SEATWORK 1

OATH OF HORATII

 Title: The Oath of the Horatii

 Creator: Jacques-Louis David

 Date Created: 1786

 Physical Location: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Ohio

 Physical Dimensions : 51 ¼ in. x 65 5/8 in. (130.2 x 166.7 cm)

In 1784 Louis XVI commissioned from Jacques-Louis David a life-size depiction of

the ancient Roman story of the Horatii family pledging to fight the Curiatii. That
famous painting is now in the Musée du Louvre , Paris. Toledo’s canvas is a reduced
replica ordered from David by the high-ranking courtier Comte de Vaudreuil . It is close
to the original, except that it includes a distaff with spun thread near the women’s
feet. David’s pupil Anne-Louis Girodet  (1767–1824) reportedly assisted in making this
version.
 In a composition inspired by classical relief sculpture, the three Horatii brothers of
Rome swear an oath before their father. They vow to fight to the death against their
three cousins, the Curiatii of Alba Longa, in order to settle a dispute between the two
cities with minimum bloodshed. Their tense stances contrast with the fluid contours
of the women, slumped in grief and resignation. Complicating the situation, the young
men were married or betrothed to each other’s sisters. In the unrest leading up to the
French Revolution of 1789, David’s powerful image exhorted restrained emotion,
order, and the sacrifice of the individual for the good of the state.

Oedipus and the Sphinx

Title: Oedipus and the Sphinx

Artist: Gustave Moreau (French, Paris 1826–

1898 Paris)
Date: 1864
Oedipus and the Sphinx is an 1864 oil on canvas
painting by Gustave Moreau that was first exhibited
at the French Salon of 1864 where it was an
immediate success. It is now in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
The painting depicts Oedipus meeting the Sphinx at
the crossroads on his journey
between Thebes and Delphi. Oedipus must answer
the Sphinx's riddle correctly in order to pass. Failure
means his own death and that of the besieged
Thebans. The riddle was: "What walks on four feet in
the morning, two in the afternoon and three at
night?". Oedipus answered: "Man: as an infant, he
crawls on all fours; as an adult, he walks on two legs
and; in old age, he uses a walking stick". Oedipus
was the first to answer the riddle correctly and,
having heard Oedipus' answer, the Sphinx was
astounded and inexplicably killed herself by throwing
herself into the sea. Oedipus thereby won the
freedom of the Thebans, the kingdom of that city, and
as his wife, Jocasta, who was later revealed to be his mother.