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Leonidas at Thermopylae is an oil on canvas painting by French artist Jacques-Louis David. The work currently hangs in the Louvre in Paris, France. The massive painting has the dimensions of about thirteen feet by seventeen and a half feet and was completed in 1814. The convoluted piece took David almost fifteen years to complete, with him separating his work into two periods from 1799 to 1803 and 1813-1814. Leonidas at Thermopylae was purchased, along with The Intervention of the Sabine Women, in November of 1819 for 100,000 francs by Louis XVIII, the king of France at the time.

Background

The crowded and theatrical scene that David depicts takes place in a time of war, seemingly in Greece from the Greek temple and temperate mountains in the background. The war we see is the Battle of Thermopylae, which took place in 480 B.C. Thermopylae, which is a Greek word that means “hot gates,” was chosen to be the perfect place for this battle because of its mountainous geography and narrow passageway. This helped the Greeks hold a better stand against the Persians who were invading the area. King Leonidas, the Spartan leader, “delayed the invasion of Darius I and the Persians…by sacrificing himself and his men to give the Greeks the time they needed to organize an ultimately victorious resistance” in the long run. While this act of bravery and sacrifice by King Leonidas and his three hundred soldiers proved to be a defeat at the time, it inspired David during France’s own internal war.

Context

When David painted Leonidas at Thermopylae, France was experiencing the fall of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte. David felt that France needed a hero to sacrifice himself for the greater good of his country, and the story of Leonidas and the Battle of Thermopylae inspired him. This was all taking place during the French Revolution where enemy soldiers were closing in on the French borders; these events are similar to how the Spartans felt during the Battle at Thermopylae, the core theme of David’s painting.

David's The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799), Louvre, Paris.

Style

When Napoleon Bonaparte saw the exhibit of David’s latest paintings in 1799, “he criticized the lack of action and the fixed poses of the warriors in The Sabine Women.” This critique by one of David’s heroes compelled David to return to what he thought of as the Academy’s primary principles, Greek classical art. This masterpiece is one in which fully features not only the principles, but also the Greek subjects to convey the heroic nature of this historical battle.

Earlier Sketches

David made many sketches before the final oil on canvas composition was executed. This sketch dating back to 1814 is a compositional study that was completed in two separate parts, leaving the final result somewhat choppy and overworked. There are a few differences between this compositional study and the final painting, one of which being a more full view of the background which resulted from the removal of trees and branches from the earlier sketch. Classical male figures were included from the beginning of David's sketches for Leonidas at Thermopylae.

Composition

In Leonidas at Thermopylae, it is implied that the war is deeper than just the main figures in the foreground, with hundreds of other warriors in the battle too. In the foreground, we see that chaos has broken out and the army seems to be in shambles, while the leader of the army remains calm as the war progresses around him. The emphasized man in the center, presumably Leonidas, instantly draws the viewers’ eyes to him. Not only is Leonidas more bathed in light out of any of the partly shadowed figures in the painting, he also has the most static pose while almost everyone else is in motion. In this brief snapshot of a glimpse into an intense battle, he takes a moment to reflect on the war. While he is the leader of his army, Leonidas cannot do this alone; his eyes are upturned toward the heavens, as if to look up to God and beg for help. His facial expression is one of contemplation and almost defeat, as if he knows the fate of him and his army in the battle.

The contrast of the only other static man to the right of the leader serves to show that though Leonidas’s figure is static, his risen state defines him as the ruler. The figures in the right background look up to Leonidas, signaling that the company sees him as divine. His idealized figure contributes to this notion too, relaying the idea of his strength and bravery during this battle. The golden embroidered cape, fancy helmet, and huge shield all contribute to the idea of Leonidas’s high status and primary role in this battle.

References

• Athanassoglou, Nina. “Under the Sign of Leonidas: The Political and Ideological Fortune of David's Leonidas at Thermopylae Under the Restoration.”  The Art Bulletin 63, no. 4 (December 1981): 633-649.
• Bordes, Philippe.  Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
• John C. Kraft et al. “The Pass at Thermopylae, Greece.” Journal of Field Archaeology 14, no. 2 (Summer 1987): 181-198.
• Nanteuil, Luc de.  Jacques-Louis David.  New York: H.N. Abrams, 1990.