Goya's Family of Carlos IV & David's Oath of the Horatii: Neoclassical Masterpieces

The Family of Carlos IV (Goya)

1800-1801

Technique: Oil on canvas

Visual Elements: Goya's brushwork is loose and vigorous, with drawing achieving little importance. The appearance of color in the dresses is meticulously worked and is based on whites and golds that harmonize with reds and blues. The painter illuminated the right side of the painting and left the other side invaded by a gloom from which faces look towards the observer.

Composition: The Family of Carlos IV is a collective portrait that shares some characteristics with Neoclassical portraiture. However, it cannot be reduced to this style because it waives the careful working drawing and thoroughly studies the color and the psychological center of the figures. The King and his wife appear with their children, Maria Isabel and Francisco de Paula. To the left is the future Ferdinand VII, accompanied by his future wife, and behind him, a sister. To the King's right, we can see the presence of the King's brother and two daughters, the son and grandson of the last kings. Goya himself appears in this painting. The composition is shallow and closed, and the many characters create a sense of limited space.

Style: Neoclassicism

Function and Meaning: The painting was commissioned by Charles IV. This work, designed as a family portrait, was probably intended to decorate the rooms of the Royal Palace.

Oath of the Horatii (David)

1784

Technique: Oil on canvas

Visual Elements:

• Pace in the men, looking for balance.
• Canon: Anatomy is important.
• Relations with shadows: Similar to *The Death of Socrates*.
• Composition: Symmetrical, with a vertical axis (the father).
• Compositional Geometry: Triangle, rectangle.
• Perspective: Linear.
• Light: Artificial, diffuse (except for the bottom).
• Expression: Anti-natural.

Function and Meaning: The work is based on the story told in *Ab Urbe Condita* by Titus Livius. David wanted to imbue the spirits of his time with a sense of duty towards the motherland, in the image and likeness of the Horatii. The choice of the moment of the oath, and no other, was probably motivated by being the instant when patriotic pride is most intense. It had a clear propagandistic role, encouraging citizens to fulfill their duties to the fatherland and not to be swayed by feelings.