Elizabeth Huff
Professor Elaine O’Brien
Art 1C
2 May 2017
Annotated Bibliography- Oath of the Horatii
Gutwirth, Madelyn. Corneille’s Horace and David’s Oath of the Horatii: A Chapter in the Politics of Gender in Art. New York, US: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 2012.
Madelyn Gutwirth is an author and historian who specializes in 18th-century studies and has published numerous works on the 18th century, from art to literature to politics. Her book “Corneille’s Horace and David’s Oath of the Horatii: A Chapter in the Politics of Gender in Art” is one of her most widely held works. In this book, Gutwirth connects the political and gender struggle within David’s Oath of the Horatii to 17th century Pierre Corneille’s Horace. By doing so, Gutwirth shows the antecedents of gender strife in the 17th century and how they returned in the 18th century with David’s revolutionary Oath of the Horatii. She argues that the movement from feminine Rococo art to the masculine Neoclassical form of art enlarged gender separation during this time in history, with Oath of the Horatii being one of the leading works that spurred changes in societal gender relations and gender identities.
Johnson, Dorothy. “Corporality and Communication: The Gestural Revolution of Diderot, David, and The Oath of the Horatii.”Art Bulletin, Vol. 71 Issue 1 (1989): 92-113.
Dorothy Johnson is a professor of art history at theUniversity of Iowa who received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. She specializes in 18th-19th century French and European art/artists, including Chardin, Rousseau, Delacroix, and Jacques-Louis David. In her article “Corporality and Communication: The Gestural Revolution of Diderot, David, and The Oath of the Horatii,” Johnson discusses the revolutionary movement brought about by the Oath of the Horatii, due to its embodiment of corporal expression and gesture. She examines how fundamentals oflate 18th century French art such as aesthetic physiognomy were overturned by David’s use of corporal aesthetic, meaning the body as a whole was used to communicate meaning, expressions, and emotions. Johnson argues that this gestural and bodily expressive movement was set in motion by David’s Oath of the Horatii, and was revolutionary because the classicized French Rococo style art of the time heavily relied upon the face to express emotion and feeling.
Mayer, Tamar. “Drawing the Corporeal: Balance and Mirror Reversal in Jacques-Louis David’s Oath of Horatii.” Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, Volume 46 (2017): 229-260.
Tamar Mayer currently attends University of Chicago with a B.A. from Tel-Aviv University and a double major in art history and the interdisciplinary humanities program. Her research and projects are focused on 19th-century French art, specifically the works of Jacques-Louis David. In her article “Drawing the Corporeal: Balance and Mirror Reversal in Jacques-Louis David’s Oath of the Horatii,” Mayer highlights the relationship between David’s preparatory processes and his final work. She emphasizes that mirror reversal, as well as elements of balance and stability, are significantly crucial to the composition of David’s Oath of the Horatii. By closely analyzing and comparing drawing practices to final compositions of David’s work, Mayer argues that the dynamics of this piece were carefully structured according to notions such as gravity and solidity and the decreasing chain of power between the stable, standing men and the seated women.
Conclusion: Art 1C Spring 2018 students, conclude your paper with a paragraph (50 words)about yourown point of view on the artwork after having read and considered the points of view of the three art historians.