The Death of Marat
1793 · Oil on canvas · Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)
- Year
- 1793
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 165 × 128 cm
- Collection
- Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
- Movement
- Neoclassicism
Jean-Paul Marat, the radical journalist of the French Revolution, lies dead in the medicinal bath where he worked to soothe a skin disease, his arm trailing to the floor and the quill still in his hand. Charlotte Corday had stabbed him there on 13 July 1793; the letter she used to gain entry rests on the board beside his head, the knife lies on the floor, and a packing crate serves as his desk, inscribed À MARAT, DAVID. David, Marat's friend and a deputy in the Convention, had visited him the day before and was asked by the assembly to record the death. He painted it in a few months as a secular pietà: the empty upper half of the canvas, the wound like Christ's, the serene face. Shown in the Louvre courtyard in October 1793, it was hidden after the fall of Robespierre and went with David into exile. His heirs gave it to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in 1886.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A dead man slumped in a bath against a dark half-empty wall, painted in cold greens, white linen and warm skin, for a study, library or dining room in the moody register, at 24×36 in black. Deep green, charcoal or stone walls suit it; pair it with the Oath of the Horatii for the two faces of David.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Neoclassicism painting
- Era
- 18th century (1793)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- dining room, study or library, living room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Death of Marat in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Death of Marat painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
