David's Sling

A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art

Victoria C. Gardner Coates

• Publisher: Encounter Books
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781594037214
• eBook ISBN: 9781594037221
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art & Politics

Throughout Western history, the societies that have made the greatest contributions to the spread of freedom have created iconic works of art to celebrate their achievements. Yet despite the enduring appeal of these works—from the Parthenon to Michelangelo’s David to Picasso’s Guernica —histories of both art and democracy have ignored this phenomenon. Millions have admired the artworks covered in this book but relatively few know why they were commissioned, what was happening in the culture that produced them, or what they were meant to achieve. Even scholars who have studied them for decades often miss the big picture by viewing them in isolation from a larger story of human striving. David’s Sling places into context ten canonical works of art executed to commemorate the successes of free societies that exerted political and economic influence far beyond what might have been expected of them. Fusing political and art history with a judicious dose of creative reconstruction, Victoria Coates has crafted a lively narrative around each artistic object and the free system that inspired it.This book integrates the themes of creative excellence and political freedom to bring a fresh, new perspective to both. In telling the stories of ten masterpieces, David’s Sling invites reflection on the synergy between liberty and human achievement.

Index

Page numbers in italic refer to illustrations.

Académie des Beaux-Arts, 229–32

Académie Royale, 143–45, 153, 229

Acrobat and the Young Harlequin, The (Picasso), 260

Adam and Eve Expelled from Eden (Masaccio), 80

Adoration of the Magi, The (Leonardo da Vinci), 92

Aeschylus, 5–10, 26, 187–88

Aldrovandi, Ulisse, 40–44

Alexander III, pope, 59–61

Alexander VI, pope, 102–3

Alexander the Great, 26, 53

Alexandria, 53, 55–56, 64

Alexius I Comnenus, emperor, 59

Alexius III Angelus, emperor, 65

Alexius IV Angelus, emperor, 65–66

Alfonso XIII, king of Spain, 256, 273

Alma-Tadema, Lawrence, 19

Amsterdam: art in, 123–24; commerce in, 120–23; Kloveniersdoelen in, 110; Marie de’ Medici visit to, 109–13

Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, The (Rembrandt), 121–22, 122

Antiquities of Athens, The (Stuart/Revett), 168

Arabian Nights, 176, 206

Archer, Archibald, 185

Ariosto, Ludovico, 129

Aristophanes, 22

Aristotle, 27, 135

Aspasia, 21–22, 26, 27

Athena Parthenos, 13, 20–21, 86, 126, 172

Athena Promachos, 12, 12–14, 20, 21

Athens (ancient): Acropolis, xvi, 14; Acropolis rebuilding, 2–4, 11–21; and Delian treasury, 3–4, 11; democratic reforms in, 7, 10–11, 24, 26; Festival of Dionysus in, 5–7; founding myth of, 4–5, 15; Persian attack on, 1–2, 11; plague in, 25; vs. Sparta, 11, 13, 21–26

Athens (modern): Elgin in, 177–79; Ottomans in, 170–72; Venetian attack on, 170–72

Attila the Hun, 52

Aub, Max, 269, 270–71

Augustus (Octavian), emperor, 39

Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, The (Holmes), 205, 209n19209n19

Baldassare Castiglione (Raphael), 125, 125–29, 134, 139

Baldwin I, emperor, 67

Ballets Russes, 263

Balzac, Honoré de, 265

Banning Cocq, Frans, 113, 132–33, 135–37

Barbarigo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• Introduction
• A Note on Creative Reconstruction
• Possessing Freedom: The Parthenon and the Birth of Democracy in Athens
• For Liberty and Blood: Brutus and the Roman Republic
• Safeguard of the West: St. Mark’s Basilica and the Most Serene Republic of Venice
• In the Company of Giants: Michelangelo’s David and Renaissance Florence
• “A Prodigious Growth in Riches”: Rembrandt’s Night Watch and the Dutch Golden Age
• The Best and the Worst: David’s Marat and Revolutionary France
• A New Athens on the Thames: The Elgin Marbles and Great Britain
• Manifest Destiny: Bierstadt’s Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak and the United States of America
• Art and Victory: Monet’s Water Lilies and the French Third Republic
• Trial by Fire: Picasso’s Guernica and the Threat of Fascism
• Conclusion
• Suggestions for Further Reading
• Acknowledgments
• Illustration Credits
• Index
• A Note on the Type