Why it matters
The Spartan king Leonidas stays calm at the centre of a crowded scene before the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. David worked on the huge canvas for fifteen years, from 1799 to 1803 and again in 1813–1814.
Did you know?
- It measures 3.95 × 5.31 metres.
- Louis XVIII bought it in 1819, with The Intervention of the Sabine Women, for 100,000 francs.
- David's pupil Georges Rouget collaborated on it.
Based on the Wikipedia article Leonidas at Thermopylae (CC BY-SA 4.0).
