Why it matters
David painted his murdered friend, the revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat, within months of his assassination by Charlotte Corday in 1793. One of the most famous images of the French Revolution, it has been called the first modernist painting for the way it used politics as its raw material.
Did you know?
- A skin condition made Marat spend much of his time (and do much of his work) in the bath.
- The note in his hand is not a real quotation from Corday.
- A studio replica hangs in the Louvre.
Based on the Wikipedia article The Death of Marat (CC BY-SA 4.0).
