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Belisarius Begging for Alms (French: Bélisaire demandant l'aumône) is a large-format (288 × 312 cm) history painting in oil on canvas by Jacques-Louis David. It depicts the Byzantine general Belisarius, who heroically defeated the Vandals in North Africa in AD 533–534 on behalf of Justinian I, and (according to an apocryphal account probably added to his biography in the Middle Ages) was later blinded by the emperor and reduced to begging for alms on the street. David exhibited the work at the Salon of 1781 after returning from Italy and it proved a great success.

Belisarius Begging for Alms
ArtistJacques-Louis David
Year1781
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions288 cm × 312 cm (113 in × 123 in)
LocationPalais des Beaux-Arts, Lille

It is now on show at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille.


Themes


The theme of mercy is omnipresent in the work, focusing on the three people considered most "based": the woman, the child and the old man who embodies the image of Mercy. The hands of these three individuals horizontally convey the idea of weakness involving need and love. The soldier, meanwhile, in the background, lifts his hands vertically to show his astonishment, with his chest forward. The three human ages represented give an idea of the glory of youth and the wreck of old age.


Style


The same subject had already been used by Peyron in his own Belisarius receiving Hospitality from a Peasant; in contrast, only a few characters are present here and the scene is dependent on the story for dramatic effect. David shows us a fallen hero, old and blind, begging in the street with a young child when one of his former soldiers, astonished, recognises him.

Belisarius Begging for Alms, 1784, 101 × 115 cm, Louvre
Belisarius Begging for Alms, 1784, 101 × 115 cm, Louvre

The setting is Antique: sober, austere and overwhelming architecture is placed behind the depiction of harsh conditions. This shows that the artist wanted to associate Greek style with heroic themes in the context of the concerns of the artist's time. Essentially, it is through the theme of virtues borrowed from ancient times that the "true style," later called neo-classical, spread into art, rejecting the frivolities of the royal court of Louis XVI at the time of the French revolution. In the very composition of the work of David, however, the essence of the tableau juxtaposes several rococo ideas, and is thus not a completely neo-classical work. Nonetheless, the neo-classical perspective can still be found, especially in the ideas behind this painting: a revolutionary (David) offers a meditation on the moral heroism in adversity.

The artist returned to the subject in 1784, producing a smaller canvas with minor changes which is in the collection of the Louvre.


На других языках


- [en] Belisarius Begging for Alms

[es] Belisario (David)

Belisario pidiendo limosna es un cuadro del pintor neoclásico francés Jacques-Louis David. Cuando el pintor regresó de Italia expuso esta obra en el Salón de 1781. Se trata de un óleo sobre lienzo de gran formato (312 × 288 cm) que se inscribe dentro de la pintura de Historia, un género revitalizado tras la muerte de Luis XIV.

[fr] Bélisaire demandant l'aumône

Bélisaire demandant l'aumône est un tableau peint par Jacques-Louis David en 1780 représentant le général byzantin Bélisaire alors déchu et aveugle et inspiré directement du roman Bélisaire de Jean-François Marmontel. Première peinture néo-classique importante de Jacques-Louis David elle rencontra un important succès au Salon de 1781. Le tableau est conservé au palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille et une réplique de dimensions réduites peinte en 1784 est conservée au musée du Louvre.

[it] Belisario chiede l'elemosina

Belisario chiede l'elemosina è un quadro del pittore francese Jacques-Louis David del 1781.

[ru] Велизарий, просящий подаяние

«Велизарий, просящий подаяние»[1] (фр. Belisaire demandant l'aumone) — картина французского художника Жака Луи Давида.



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