Philatelic document - The Sabines - Jacques-Louis David (1748 - 1825)

Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) The Sabines, 1799 David was fifty years old when he completed his immense painting of the Sabines. The painter had been renowned since the success of his Oath of the Horatii in 1785: his rigorous, energetic and pure vision of ancient Roman history had propelled David into the regeneration of French painting. In the meantime, however, the artist suffered a black legend for his total political commitment to the Revolution in its most radical phase, from September 1792 onwards. The political fall of Robespierre at the end of July 1794 brought with it that of his friend David. Imprisoned for several months, he was accused of having compromised with a government now reduced to the notion of "Terror". Captivity prompted the painter to return to his art: among several ideas he conceived at the time, that of the Sabines would find its culmination five years later. The subject has rarely been depicted: it is not the famous episode of the Sabines' abduction by the early Romans. The action takes place a few months later, when the Sabines, bent on revenge, attack the neighboring city of Rome to recover their daughters and sisters. But their daughters, now mothers, get in the way. For the first time in his career, David entrusts the central action of a major historical painting to a woman: Hersilia orders her husband Romulus to stop fighting Tatius, king of the Sabines. Around her appear six women of all ages, expressing the feelings of humanity that triumph over the vengeful impulses of men. In the climate of latent civil war that characterized the young French Republic, David's Sabines thus sounds like a call for national reconciliation. The painting also encourages us to listen to the political wisdom of women, the great forgotten of revolutionary progress.

Timbre-poste (taille-douce) : Création Sarah Bougault, gravure Pierre Albuisson, d’après David, Jacques-Louis. Les Sabines. 1799. Paris, musée du Louvre - photo © Lois Lammerhuber - Photoagentur Lammerhuber / LA COLLECTION. Document philatélique : Mise en page Sarah Bougault, autoportrait, 1794. Paris, musée du Louvre – photo © Aurimages. Timbre à date : Création Sarah Bougault d'après David, Jacques-Louis. Les Sabines. 1799. Paris, musée du Louvre - photo © Lois Lammerhuber - Photoagentur Lammerhuber / LA COLLECTION. Texte : Côme Fabre, conservateur au département des Peintures, musée du Louvre.