Hersilia's Sisters

In 1799, when the French artist Jacques-Louis David (17481825) 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 herHenriette de Verninac, daughter of Charles-Franois Delacroix, minister of foreign affairs, and Juliette Rcamier, 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 (179394) and the coup in 1799 that brought Napoleon to power. Hersilias Sisters illuminates ways that cultural life and civil society were rebuilt during these years through an extraordinary efflorescence of women pioneers in every cultural domainliterature, the stage, opera, moral philosophy, political theory, painting, popular journalism, and fashion. Through a close examination of Davids work between The Intervention of the Sabines (begun in 1796) and Bonaparte Crossing the Alps (begun in 1800), Bryson explores how the flowering of womens culture under the Directoire became a decisive influence on Davids art. With more than 150 illustrations, this book provides new and brilliant insight into this period that will captivate readers.