_J. L. David_ (French: 1748-1825).
Jacques Louis David, the founder of the "classical school"
in France and for many years the Dictator of French art,
was a nephew of Boucher, from whom he received his first
instruction. His celebrated "Oath of the Horatii" (1784)
and "Brutus" (1789), and other works of the kind, are in the
Louvre. They were not without influence on the politics of the
time, and David was elected a representative of Paris in the
Convention in 1792. He became a follower of Robespierre, and
naturally escaped execution. Abandoning politics, he became
acquainted with Napoleon, who made him his First Painter.
On the restoration of the Bourbons, he sought refuge in
Brussels, where he died. Many of his Napoleonic pictures are at
Versailles.
A vigorous portrait-sketch of Elisa, sister of Napoleon, whom he made
Duchess of Tuscany, with the titles of Duchess of Lucca and Princess
of Piombino. She was born in 1777 and died in 1820. We see her here in
white empire costume.