French artist Jacques Louis David was the founder of neoclassicism. In his work, as in all academic painting, there were works written on mythological subjects. The artist’s most recent work is the painting “Mars Disarmed by Venus and Three Graces” by David, presented at the exhibition shortly before the death of the painter. The picture aroused violent criticism by the fact that the artist combined in it so much everything incompatible that the picture remains to this day a mystery.
In it there are also traits of romanticism, and realism, as well as idealization with classicism, which emphasizes the plot of the work. At first glance, the erotic side of the picture stands out. This emphasizes the playfulness of the plot, naked female bodies, the young Cupid, who takes off sandals from the god of war. We see, as the goddess of love, Venus disarms Mars, sitting next to him, three beautiful graces hold the helmet, the sword and the shield already taken off. But the work clearly shows the irony. In the painting there is no worship of the ancient gods and romantic feelings.
Clouds that emphasize the divine essence of the characters, strongly contrast with their earthly appearance. Even Cupid forgot about the arrows, although he must fight them with the hearts of loving couples. And the god of war Mars does not look like that. It is also unclear what should all end, what will happen next when Venus disarms him. This is the ironic grin of the artist, over which critics still argue and give new witty ideas about the picture. But the fact remains that it is a great masterpiece of an outstanding painter. In the history, the models from which the characters were written off remained.
They were actors of the La Monnet Theater in Brussels. For a long time David sought their consent, and yet he achieved his goal. The dancer Marie Lezuer became Venus in the picture, the image of Cupid was taken from the young dancer of the theater Lucien Petipa, and one of the graces in the picture was the mistress of Willem II of Orange. This great work became a definite result of the artist’s creative activity.
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