The brothers
stretch out their arms in a salute that has since become associated with
tyranny. The "Hail Caesar" of antiquity (although at the time of the
Horatii a Caesar had yet to be born) was transformed into the "Heil
Hitler" of the modern period. The fraternal intimacy brought about by the
Horatii's dedication to absolute principles of victory or death ... is closely
related to the establishment of the fraternal order ... In the total commitment
or blind obedience of a single, exclusive group lies the potentiality of the
authoritarian state.
After the
French Revolution of 1789, David was commissioned to depict the formation of
the revolutionary government in a similar style. In the Tennis Court Oath
(1792) the National Assembly are all depicted with their arms outstretched,
united in an upward gesture comparable to that of the Horatii, as they swear to
create a new constitution. The painting was never finished, but an immense
drawing was exhibited in 1791 alongside the Oath of the Horatii. As in the Oath
of the Horatii, David conveys the unity of minds and bodies in the service of
the patriotic ideal. But in this drawing, he takes the subject further, uniting
the people beyond just family ties and across different classes, religions, and
philosophical opinion
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