The Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David, 1784
From €29Museum-quality print, also on canvas and framed.
Frequently asked questions
Which size should I choose?
This work is available in 30 × 40 cm, 50 × 70 cm, 70 × 100 cm. As a guide: 30 × 40 cm (about 12 × 16 in) for shelves, corners or gallery walls; 50 × 70 cm (about 20 × 28 in) above a dresser, a headboard or a desk; 70 × 100 cm (about 28 × 39 in) as the centrepiece of a living room or the wall above the sofa. Below the buy buttons you can see it to scale above a 2-metre sofa.
Does it come framed?
The print arrives unframed with a white border, ready to frame. If you choose a black or oak frame, it arrives mounted behind acrylic glazing, ready to hang. Canvases come stretched on a wooden frame.
When will it arrive?
Printed to order at the lab closest to your address. It arrives in 4–8 working days in Spain and the EU, and in 6–12 working days in the US, Mexico and other destinations.
What if it arrives damaged?
Email us a photo within 30 days of delivery and we will send you a new one free of charge or refund you.
Can I send it as a gift?
Yes. At checkout you can write a gift message and ship it to the recipient's name and address. The parcel shows no prices.
About the work
- Artist
- Jacques-Louis David
- Date
- 1784
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 330 x 425 cm
- Collection
- Musée du Louvre, París
- Print up to
- 70 × 100 cm
- Reference
- XDV-2339
What the museum label doesn't tell you
That gesture—three arms shooting toward the swords, bodies locked in perfect diagonals—reads like a direct quote from Livy. It isn't. David invented it. The oath itself appears nowhere in the ancient sources; Livy only describes the brothers being chosen for combat. The image we now call 'Roman duty' is a fiction staged by a painter in 1785, and it worked so well it replaced the actual story. On the right, the women collapse into soft curves; on the left, the men snap into rigid lines. The painting doesn't illustrate history—it manufactures a myth. How many 'historical scenes' we take for granted were staged by a single artist?
