| book details |

Hersilia's Sisters: Jacques-Louis David, Women, and the Emergence of Civil Society in Post-Revolution France

By (author) Norman Bryson

| on special |

normal price: R 3,085.95

Price: R 2,776.95

| add to trolley |

| book description |

In 1799, when the French artist Jacques-Louis David (1748â€“1825) exhibited his Intervention of the Sabines, a history painting featuring the ancient heroine Hersilia, he added portraits of two contemporary women on either side of herâ€”Henriette de Verninac, daughter of Charles-FranÃ§ois Delacroix, minister of foreign affairs, and Juliette RÃ©camier, a well-known and admired socialite. Drawing on many disciplines, Norman Bryson explains how such a combination of paintings could reveal the underlying nature of the Directoire, the period between the vicious and near-dictatorial Reign of Terror (1793â€“94) and the coup in 1799 that brought Napoleon to power. Hersiliaâ€™s Sisters illuminates ways that cultural life and civil society were rebuilt during these years through an extraordinary efflorescence of women pioneers in every cultural domainâ€”literature, the stage, opera, moral philosophy, political theory, painting, popular journalism, and fashion. Through a close examination of Davidâ€™s work between The Intervention of the Sabines (begun in 1796) and Bonaparte Crossing the Alps (begun in 1800), Bryson explores how the flowering of womenâ€™s culture under the Directoire became a decisive influence on Davidâ€™s art. With more than 150 illustrations, this book provides new and brilliant insight into this period that will captivate readers.