The Life and Art of Jacques-Louis David Born in Paris, France, on August 30, 1748, Jacques-Louis David emerged during a period of profound political and aesthetic transformation. He became the principal exponent of the late 18th-century Neoclassical style, a movement that sought to replace the decorative whimsy of the Rococo with a sense of order and moral clarity. His career was defined by an ability to navigate the most turbulent shifts in French history, moving from the structured hierarchies of the Ancien Régime to the radicalism of the Revolution and the imperial grandeur of the Napoleo…