Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Traces David's growth into the recognized master of Neoclassicism and explores why his work represented a profound renewal of the pictorial tradition.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This volume provides a serviceable if not particularly insightful or original account of the life and career of Jacques-Louis David. The relatively brief text is clear but somewhat perfunctory, especially with regard to the all-important historical and political context in which David's tumultuous career unfolded. The lack of scholarly apparatus may leave some readers wondering on the few occasions in which Monneret deviates from standard accounts of David's art. On what authority, for instance, does she make the astounding (and quite intriguing) suggestion that the celebrated painting the Death of Bara actually represents Agricol Viala? And on what grounds does she continue to accept the disputed attribution to David of the so-called View of the Luxembourg Gardens? The principal virtue of the book is its abundant color photographs (including many details), not only of the works of David but of some of his less widely reproduced students and colleagues. General readers; lower-division undergraduates. A. C. Shelton; Ohio State University