The Voracious Oath Still Image

Caricature parodying David's "Oath of the Horatii," with portly, gluttonous men raising bottles and a fork in oath over a table of bread, while a dejected woman sits beside a wine cask with a cat and basket nearby.

Dublin Core

Title

The Voracious Oath

Description

This fascinating print is modeled on Jacques–Louis David’s Oath of the Horatii. In that famous painting, the artist sought to exemplify patriotic virtue by showing an austere father making his sons swear to defend Roman honor. Here this image turns David’s idea on its head, as aristocrats seem to be in league to some nefarious end. The woman on the right, quite unlike the approving, if resigned, female in David, shows her revolutionary disapproval through a forlorn expression.

Creator

De la Planche (engraver)
De la Brosse (model)

Source

Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Rights

Public Domain

Relation

http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/60/|Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d'histoire de France par l'estampe, 1770-1870. Vol. 71 (pièces 9302-9376), Restauration et Cent-Jours

Format

JPEG

Language

French

Identifier

60

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Engraving

Physical Dimensions

20.1 x 32 cm

Title (French)

Le serment des Voraces

Citation

De la Planche (engraver) and De la Brosse (model), “The Voracious Oath,” LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION, accessed November 9, 2026, https://revolution.chnm.org/d/60.