Neoclassicism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Neoclassicism - Assignment Example (Kleiner, 2008, p.769). Marat was a writer who supported revolution and also he was a friend of David. Marat ws assassinated in 1783. A member of the rival political faction had stabbed him to death when he was having his medicinal bath to cope with his long-term skin disease that he fell prey to, while hiding from the King’s soldiersin Paris’s seweres. (Kleiner, 2008, p.769). David has used a simple and clear style in this painting. He has intentionally avoided the Macabre and presented Marat as a romantic tragic hero. The pen and paper in his hands remind the onlooker that he was deeply engrossed in his service to revolution as a writer right up to his last breath. The face of Marat is painted as suffering from pain, still full of grace. In his hands, there is a petition that either the assassin brought with her or he was preparing for some poor unfortunate person, to get assistance from a widow of a martyr of the revolution. All this attention given to details raises the virtues of the deceased in the eyes of the beholder. The skin problems that Marat suffered from were intentionally avoided in the painting. In his early years as a painter, David had followed the Rococo style of painting which was considered trendy in those days. But after seeing the renaissance period Greek paintings while he was studying in Rome, he renounced the decorative style of Rococo as â€Å"artificial† and â€Å"exalted the â€Å"perfect form† of Greek art† (Kleiner, 2008, p.769). Art historians have pointed to the resemblance of this painting to the depiction of Christ in Michelangelo’s Pieta’ (Kleiner, 2008, p.769). The arms that are hanging down in both paintings have a similarity un-surpassed by even the eyes of a person with least training in understanding art. This likeness has remained a major source of controversy regarding the ideological positions reflected in this