Explore the Impact of this artwork.
The work had tremendous resonance for the time. The Revolution had already begun, and all paintings shown at the Salon had to be approved for political acceptability. David's 1788 portrait of Antoine Lavoisier had already been refused a display because the famed chemist was a potentially divisive figure, tied as he was to the Ancien Régime. Out of similar caution, The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons was almost not shown because of concerns about inflaming pro-revolutionary passions. The public's insistence was too great, however, and the authorities were forced to give in.After its first exhibition, David's friend, the actor François-Joseph Talma, played the title role in Voltaire's Brutus and added in a scene in which the stage direction exactly replicated the composition of the already famous painting.Contemporaneously with David, the painter Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807) was commissioned by Polish royalty to create a work she entitled Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death for Treason. This painting, now lost, is known only by written description and a preparatory pen and ink drawing from 1788.
Antoine Lavoisier David's 1788 portrait Angelica Kauffman Voltaire Ancien Régime François-Joseph Talma Angelica Kauffmann