A groundbreaking exhibition at the Louvre Museum celebrating the bicentenary of Jacques-Louis David's death is shattering long-held misconceptions about one of France's most influential painters. The comprehensive restoration of five major works has revealed the true virtuosity of David (1748-1825), whose paintings have become so ubiquitous in textbooks that generations have come to view him as merely a provider of smooth, lifeless images. The restored masterpieces include the Portrait of the Marquise d'Orvilliers (1790), The Oath of the Tennis Court (1791-1792), Portrait of Madame Récamier (circa 1800), Andromache Mourning Hector (1783), and his 1794 self-portrait.
The restoration project was driven by the need to recover David's original palette, which had been significantly altered by layers of yellowed varnish over the centuries. "We feared that the condition of certain paintings was no longer compatible with the loans we wished to display alongside them," explained Côme Fabre, curator of the Louvre's Painting Department. A striking visual imbalance had developed between the Portrait of the Marquise d'Orvilliers and that of her sister, the Countess Sorcy-Thélusson, borrowed from Munich's Neue Pinakothek. The cleaning process revealed a much lighter background and remarkable freedom in David's brushwork, particularly visible in the treatment of the model's hair.
The restoration of "Andromache Mourning Hector," David's reception piece that secured his entry into the Academy, proved especially revelatory. Years of darkened varnish had rendered the background completely invisible, obscuring the architectural details and green drapery. The surface had developed a granular appearance due to litharge and lead carbonate grains rising to the pictorial surface, a phenomenon often caused by excess lead in the preparatory layer. Meticulous retouching work has restored the original contrasts: a covering that had turned brown has regained its original purple hue, matching the details of Andromache's cloak. The range of whites has been enriched with subtle nuances, from the pure tone of the tunic to the ivory of the cloak, contrasting with Hector's cadaverous flesh against his widow's still-palpitating skin.
"The Oath of the Tennis Court" also benefited significantly from the restoration process. Over the years, the canvas had accumulated tears, impacts, and scratches that hindered comprehension of the work. It was cleaned and retouched using dry techniques such as pastel and colored pencil, designed to mask these accidents and make the superimposition of drawings more legible. The project for this painting was ultimately abandoned due to lack of funding and time, as David became consumed by his duties as a deputy in 1793. The constantly changing political context compromised the inclusion of certain figures in the composition - Mirabeau, for example, went from being a national hero to a traitor to the Revolution.
The Portrait of Madame Récamier, though entirely covered with paint, is considered an unfinished work, exemplifying David's mastery of the "non finito" technique. The volumes of her dress are sketched summarily, traces of scraping with the brush handle appear in her gray curls, and the glazes - finishes composed of fine layers - are missing. Historical circumstances were not to blame this time; the commissioner may have refused to pay the painter, either because she found his rates too high or because the choice of a spare décor did not suit her. A surviving letter attests to the power struggle between the dissatisfied subject and the inflexible portraitist. The brushed appearance of the background, evidence of the painting's unfinished state, had been attenuated by very thick, very yellow varnishes from previous restorations, which were removed during cleaning.
David's self-portrait, executed between September and December 1794 during his imprisonment at the Hôtel des Fermes detention center, represents another example of deliberate non finito, reflecting the master's tastes and technique. The composition must have seemed sufficiently complete to him, as he kept it for a time before offering it to his colleague Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767-1855), who then passed it to his son, painter Eugène Isabey (1803-1886), who donated it to the Louvre in 1852. This state of freshness, tolerated between artists, was not in accordance with the later conception of David's painting style.
The restoration revealed crucial insights into David's painting methods. The background had been covered with opaque retouches that concealed traces of wiped brushwork and conscious revisions by the artist. The restoration uncovered how David painted flesh tones by adding touches of yellow, blue, and red, and how he rendered shadows by leaving part of his sketch in reserve. This economy of materials is what makes his canvases so vibrant and alive, contradicting the sterile reputation his reproductions have acquired over time. The exhibition runs at the Louvre Museum from October 15 to January 26, offering visitors an unprecedented opportunity to experience David's true genius.
