68 The Lictors Carrying the
Bodies of the Sons of Brutus
Pen and black ink and gray wash; H: 32.7 cm (i2^7 /s in.);
W: 42. i cm (16^9 /i6 in.)
84.GA. 8
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left on base of
Brutus' chair, signed and dated L. David faciebat 1787 in
gray ink.
PROVENANCE: Sale, Paris, March 29, 1842, lot 67; Paul
Mathey, Paris; art market, Lausanne.EXHIBITIONS: David et ses eleves, Palais des Beaux-Arts,
Paris, April-June 1913, no. 261 (catalogue by A.
Lapauze).BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.
THIS SHEET IS THE MOST IMPORTANT AND COMPLETE
surviving drawing for David's painting of 1789 in the
Louvre, Paris, which was commissioned by King Louis
XVI. Dated 1787 by the artist at the base of Brutus' chair,
it provides an unexpectedly early terminus ante quern for
the choice of this subject to satisfy the royal commission.
Despite its relatively early position in the evolution of the
project, the drawing already contains most of the basic
ingredients found in the final version. The principal dif-
ferences are the continuation of the background colon-
nade in place of the wall coming forward toward Brutus,
the addition of the still-life motif of the basket on the ta-
ble, and the reduction and alteration of pose in the right-
hand figure group. A compositional sketch in the Musee
Toulouse-Lautrec et Galerie d'Art Moderne, Albi,^1 is
closer to the painting in the characterization of the female
figures at the right and may well represent the next stage
in the development of the composition.i. A. Schnapper, David (New York, 1980), pi. 47.156 FRENCH SCHOOL • DAVID