Page "Jacques-Louis David" Paragraph 26

Republican costume designed by David.

Engraving by Dominique Vivant | Denon. David incorporated many revolutionary symbols into these theatrical performances and orchestrated ceremonial rituals ; in effect radicalizing the applied arts, themselves.

The most popular symbol for which David was responsible as propaganda minister was drawn from classical Greek images ; changing and transforming them with contemporary politics.

In an elaborate festival held on the anniversary of the revolt that brought the monarchy to its knees, David's Hercules figure was revealed in a procession following the lady Liberty ( Marianne ).

Liberty, the symbol of Enlightenment ideals was here being overturned by the Hercules symbol ; that of strength and passion for the protection of the Republic against disunity and factionalism.

In his speech during the procession, David " explicitly emphasized the opposition between people and monarchy ; Hercules was chosen, after all, to make this opposition more evident ".

It was the ideals that David linked to his Hercules that single-handedly transformed the figure from a sign of the old regime into a powerful new symbol of revolution.

" David turned him into the representation of a collective, popular power.

He took one of the favorite signs of monarchy and reproduced, elevated, and monumentalized it into the sign of its opposite.

" Hercules, the image, became to the revolutionaries, something to rally around.