[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.81,0:00:07.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] We're in Brussels looking at
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.57,0:00:10.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of Jacques-Louis David's\NRevolutionary canvases.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.94,0:00:12.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is "The Death of Morat".
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.72,0:00:14.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] Revolutionary in two senses.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.72,0:00:16.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Revolutionary in that it was painted
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.71,0:00:20.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,during the French Revolution,\Nwhich started in 1789.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.72,0:00:24.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,France was made a republic in 1792.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.07,0:00:27.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And David here commemorates\Na hero of the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.58,0:00:30.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it's also revolutionary\Nin that it's depicting
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.24,0:00:32.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a contemporary event.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.23,0:00:33.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Before this David had painted
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.86,0:00:35.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,scenes from classical antiquity.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.92,0:00:37.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] Early on in the Revolution,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.14,0:00:39.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,David had joined the Jacobin Club.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.22,0:00:40.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was a group of the most
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.92,0:00:42.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,violent and radical revolutionaries.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.69,0:00:45.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And David himself became quite close
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.13,0:00:47.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the leader of the\NJacobins, Robespierre.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.64,0:00:49.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] David\Nvoted for the beheading
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.58,0:00:51.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of King Louis XVI.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.32,0:00:54.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His signature is on documents created
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.34,0:00:58.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the arrest and execution\Nof members of the aristocracy,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.46,0:01:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of people who were against the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.40,0:01:03.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So David was really in the thick of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.28,0:01:06.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He served in the Revolutionary government.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.07,0:01:08.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He helped to dissolve the\NRoyal Academy of the Arts.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.70,0:01:11.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he was essentially the\NMinister of Propaganda,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.70,0:01:14.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,spreading the ideals of the\NRevolution through images.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.36,0:01:15.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] And that's what this is.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.44,0:01:17.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Revolutionary government\Nasked him to produce
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.48,0:01:19.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a series of three images that would
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.37,0:01:21.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,heroicize new martyrs.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.73,0:01:22.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not a Christian martyr,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.95,0:01:25.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but now a martyr to the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.21,0:01:27.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] This shift\Nfrom Christian martyr
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.87,0:01:30.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to political martyr is an important one.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.72,0:01:32.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have the beginnings of the end
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.94,0:01:34.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the world of the monarchy,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.84,0:01:36.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the the "ancien régime",
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.31,0:01:38.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of an absolutist ruler,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.25,0:01:40.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the beginnings of a new republic.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.85,0:01:43.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The beginnings of a world where the people
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.07,0:01:44.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,participate in the government.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.91,0:01:46.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] The French\NRevolution had been inspired,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.52,0:01:48.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at least in part, by\Nthe American Revolution
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.39,0:01:50.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just a few years earlier.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.12,0:01:52.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But France would oscillate between
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.14,0:01:53.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,republican and royalist governments
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.91,0:01:55.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the next century.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.05,0:01:57.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] A royalist\Nnamed Charlotte Corday,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.71,0:01:59.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a woman who believed in the monarchy
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.69,0:02:02.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of absolutist rule, went to see
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.37,0:02:04.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Marat, the leader of the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.84,0:02:08.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And by tricking him,\Nmurdered him in his bathtub.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.01,0:02:09.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] You can see\Nthe knife which she used
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.30,0:02:12.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to stab him lying on the bottom\Nleft corner of the canvas.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.59,0:02:15.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the letter that she\Nused to gain entrance
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.10,0:02:16.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,being held by Marat.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.21,0:02:18.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was a publisher, so his role
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.39,0:02:19.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the Revolution was important,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.67,0:02:22.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because he helped to\Ndisseminate revolutionary ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.58,0:02:23.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to rally the people.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.88,0:02:25.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] He holds\Nthis letter that she used
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.85,0:02:27.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to get in to see him.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.47,0:02:30.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,David is showing, look at how\Nduplicitous this woman was.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.57,0:02:33.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She tricked Marat, he was\Ninnocent, he was good.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.20,0:02:36.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was working for the republic,\Nfor the French Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.30,0:02:38.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she came in and brutally stabbed him.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.62,0:02:39.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] There is\Nthis extreme contrast
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.81,0:02:42.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between her duplicity and his nobility.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.60,0:02:43.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] He's ideally beautiful.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.84,0:02:46.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know that he was\Ndisfigured by the skin disease
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.72,0:02:49.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that caused him to spend many\Nhours of each day in the bath.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.58,0:02:51.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have no sign of that here.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.54,0:02:53.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] And his pose\Nreminds us of the Pietà,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.92,0:02:56.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the image of Christ being mourned
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.48,0:02:58.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,having just been taken\Ndown from the cross.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.98,0:03:01.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the idea that a\Nmartyr to the Revolution
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.23,0:03:03.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is replacing the central Christian martyr
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.74,0:03:05.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is vividly rendered.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.27,0:03:07.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] That was a\Nkey idea of the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.41,0:03:10.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To dismantle, not only the monarchy,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.29,0:03:11.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the church as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.93,0:03:14.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And to secularize French life.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.57,0:03:16.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we see that also in the creation
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.68,0:03:19.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a new calendar for the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.16,0:03:23.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And below the signature,\NDavid has written "Year Two".
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.51,0:03:27.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we're not in 1793, we're\Nin Year Two of the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.14,0:03:31.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This whole replacing of the old world
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.19,0:03:33.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a new Revolutionary order
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.56,0:03:35.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a new French republic.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.37,0:03:37.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] The idea\Nof rationalism was being
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.12,0:03:38.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,violently instituted.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.70,0:03:41.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead of the older, traditional\Nmeasurements for example,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.62,0:03:43.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is when we first\Nhave the more rational
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.85,0:03:45.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,metric system being introduced.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.59,0:03:46.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] This is the Enlightenment,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.88,0:03:49.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is a time of rational thinking,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.34,0:03:52.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of believing in empirical observation over
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.47,0:03:55.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the superstitions and\Ntraditions of the church.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.30,0:03:56.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] And this is a painting
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.16,0:03:57.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is all about observations.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.77,0:03:59.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This really interesting contrast between
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.94,0:04:02.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the specificity of the foreground,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.27,0:04:05.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially the crate on\Nwhich he's written his name,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.16,0:04:07.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and written "Á Marat", "To Marat".
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.42,0:04:11.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Against the indeterminate, open brushwork
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.04,0:04:13.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the background that\Nalmost doesn't look finished.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.96,0:04:17.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's got this soft,\Nfeathery, warm quality.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.44,0:04:19.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] It isolates Marat,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.11,0:04:21.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it focuses our attention on him.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.79,0:04:22.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] But as we look around
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.79,0:04:24.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at other paintings in this museum,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.52,0:04:26.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what I see in the upper part
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.25,0:04:27.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a painting are angels.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.79,0:04:29.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And David can't have that anymore.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.93,0:04:32.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And a new iconography\Nhas not yet developed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.99,0:04:35.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So instead what we have is a lighter field
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.76,0:04:36.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the upper right corner
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.98,0:04:40.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,balancing Marat's body\Nin the lower left corner.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.31,0:04:41.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] And what a body.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.24,0:04:44.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The anatomy, the muscles in the shoulder
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.03,0:04:46.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the arms and the collarbone.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.27,0:04:48.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can see that neoclassical interest
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.69,0:04:50.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in studying the anatomy,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.78,0:04:52.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,painting it very carefully,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.50,0:04:54.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,paying a lot of attention to contours,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.47,0:04:56.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,modelling in the effects\Nof light and dark.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.71,0:04:59.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what strikes me is the spareness.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.97,0:05:04.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In direct contrast to\Nthe luxurious interiors
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.46,0:05:07.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Rococo paintings of the lifestyle
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.89,0:05:10.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the aristocracy, which was the subject
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.05,0:05:11.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Rococo paintings.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.54,0:05:15.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here, a decidedly stark interior,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.56,0:05:19.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Spartan, no elaborate furniture, no gold.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.09,0:05:21.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a man, David wants to tell us,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.36,0:05:23.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lived according to the republican ideals
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.85,0:05:25.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.15,0:05:27.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] And it looks\Nlike they will endure forever.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.65,0:05:30.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But soon the Revolutionaries\Nwill turn against each other.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.47,0:05:32.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] And David is imprisoned
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.23,0:05:33.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for his involvement in the Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.93,0:05:37.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then becomes First\NPainter to Napoleon,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.20,0:05:39.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who becomes the Emperor of France.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:39.47,0:05:40.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so a lot of art historians
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.73,0:05:42.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,look at David's career and say,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.49,0:05:45.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Where were his actual principles?"
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.83,0:05:47.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] Where were his loyalties?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.19,0:05:48.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] Did he truly believe
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.87,0:05:50.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the ideals of the Revolution?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.62,0:05:53.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then become a follower of Napoleon
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.71,0:05:55.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and abandon those values?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.81,0:05:57.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Voiceover] Or was he\Npolitically mercenary?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.53,0:05:59.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Was he really looking for
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.97,0:06:02.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,commissions from whoever was in control
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.12,0:06:03.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at that moment?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.22,0:06:05.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's hard to look at "The Death of Marat"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.14,0:06:07.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and not see a man who was convinced
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.32,0:06:10.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the importance of Revolutionary ideals.