David was one of the leading portrait painters of his time. Despite the fact that he himself considered portraits only as an insignificant part of his work, they determined in many respects his manner of writing.
In fact, if such works as the Portrait of Count Pototsky, 1780, or Napoleon at the Saint Bernard Pass, 1800, are written with a claim to majesty and splendor, then his famous Portrait of Madame Recamie or Portrait of Giovanna Donna in white “is characterized by simplicity and modesty. In a more softer manner, a portrait of the artist’s sister-in-law, Madame Serizia, was painted in 1795.
Among the customers of David were very different people. For example, in 1788 he wrote a double portrait – the scientist Lavoisier and his wife. Lavoisier was the owner of the powder factory, he was so closely associated with the ruling authorities that the canvas exhibited in the Salon of 1789 was met with extreme hostility.
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