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The Tennis Court Oath
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by Jacques-Louis David
The Tennis Court Oath
The Artist
- David was a French painter in the Neoclassical style , and considered to be the preeminent painter of the era.
- Also an avid supporter of the French Revolution. He was a friend of Robespierre and a member of the Jacobin Club.
- He was a regicide who voted in the National Convention for the Execution of Louis XVI.
- In 1789, Jacques-Louis David leaves his artistic mark on the historical beginnings of the French Revolution with his painting of The Oath of the Tennis Court.
- It should be noted that David undertook this task not out of personal political conviction but rather because he was commissioned to do so.
The Artist
The Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath
- As already discussed in class, the Oppressive Class system allowed the First and Second Estates to be tax exempt while the Third Estate was forced to pay incredibly high taxes.
- Furthermore despite General Estates meeting and the overall lack of representation for the Third Estate the cycle of financial turmoil and social tensions persisted.
- All of this lead to the event depicted in this piece the Tennis court oath.
- With its strength in its numbers, the Third Estate decides that with its large population that they would become their own assembly thus forming the National Assembly.
- This power mover threatened the First and Second Estate, and in return, they locked out and banned the Third Estate from entering their meeting.
- In response to this, the Third Estate reconvenes in the royal indoor tennis court, where they would take an oath that swore them to never separate until the nation formed a constitution.
- In 1789 this event was seen as a symbol of the national unity against the ancient regime. Rejecting the current conditions, the oath signified a new transition in human history and ideology.
An early advocate and eventual the future leader of the Revolution during its most radical phase. Robespierre was elected to the Committee for Public Safety in July 1793 and from that position presided over the reorganization of France until 28 July 1794, when he and his colleagues were executed.
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Jean-Sylvain Bailly
Jean-Sylvain Bailly
Administering the oath of solidarity is Jean-Sylvain Bailly (1736-1793), he was a successful academic astronomer before the Revolution. Soon after the events depicted in this image, Bailly becomes the mayor of Paris (12 July 1789), only two days before the Storming of the Bastille.
Abbe Emmanuel Joesph Sieyes
Author of whose revolutionary pamphlet, What Is The Third Estate arguably did more than any other single piece of writing to launch the Revolution. Later Sieyès would play an instrumental role in propelling Napoleon to power.