Oath Of Horatii Analysis

The Oath of Horatii and The Burghers of Calais both depict important events that had taken place in their culture. David painted The Oath of Horatii to pick a single point in history that signifies the beginning of the combat between the two cities of Alba and Rome unlike his contemporaries and previous artists who chose to depict the end of the combat that had taken place. In this portrait the three brothers of the Horatii family are swearing to defeat the enemies of the Curiatii family or die. In The Burghers of Calais the six figures depicted are the leading citizens of Calais, France when King Edward III of England laid siege of their town in 1347 and they are offering themselves as hostages in order to free the rest of their town. They

As a result of David choosing to depict the initial moment that the action began to take place in The Oath of Horatii, it is charged with anticipation and intensity that would not be present in the other paintings. The emotions of the scene are also exaggerated through the shapes of their bodies; the men are characterized by strong, geometric lines, vivid colors, and the exacting light emphasize their readiness for combat while the women are in muted colors, are curved, and with soft lines to contrast with the men showing how their hopes to avoid a battle were ignored and they were pushed to the side. David used extreme emphasis to show that they men were ready for a battle that would be going on outside of the painting and the conflict between the men and the women within the painting. Rodin also uses exaggeration within his sculpture; he exaggerates the emotion and gravity of the situation. The hands and the feet of the men are literally out of proportion- they are larger than average which exaggerates their limbs. Their large feet are weighing them down both physically and figuratively to exaggerate how the men are still questioning their own actions and if they should go through with