DAVID, Jacques-Louis, the founder of the modern French school of painting, which he led to the study of antique sculpture. He was born at Paris in 1750; and in 1774 went to Rome, where he devoted himself particularly to historical painting. In this department he soon began to evince considerable talents. In 1784 he finished his Oath of the Horatii, which he had been commissioned by Louis XVI. to design from a scene in the Horacees of Corneille. This work gave a certain impulse to the national taste; but though the figures be correctly drawn, their attitudes are constrained and theatrical; the colouring is hard, and deficient in what is technically termed juiciness. In the same year he painted his Belisarius; in 1787 appeared his Death of Socrates; and these were followed in quick succession by other works. He had begun to distinguish himself also in portrait-painting, and might have followed out a tranquil and brilliant career; but on the outbreak of the revolution, he was seized with the universal mania, and mixed himself up with some of the most revolting transactions of that bloody period. In 1789 he finished his large picture of Brutus condemning his sons to death. He also furnished the designs of the numerous monuments and republican festivals of that time. In 1792 he was chosen an elector in Paris,
and afterwards a deputy; and during the Reign of Terror he was one of the most zealous Jacobins, and wholly devoted himself to Robespierre. At the trial of Louis XVI. he voted for the death of that unfortunate prince. In January 1794 he presided in the convention. After the fall of Robespierre, he was in great danger, and his fame as a painter alone stood between him and the guillotine. Amongst the scenes of the revolution which David strove to immortalize by his pencil are the murders of Marat and Lepelletier; and particularly the Oath of the Jeu de Paume, and the entrance of Louis into the National Assembly. In 1799 he executed the Rape of the Sabine Women, which is regarded as his masterpiece, and by the exhibition of which he realized, it is said, L. 4000 sterling. In 1804 he was appointed first painter to the emperor, and received commands to execute four pieces,—amongst which the coronation of Napoleon was particularly distinguished. Among his finest works of this period are many representations of the emperor, particularly that in which, as first consul, he is represented on horseback on Mount Bernard, pointing out to his troops the path which led them to victory. This piece is now in Berlin. In 1814 he painted Leonidas, the last work which proceeded from his pencil before he quitted Paris on the reverses of his imperial master. When Napoleon returned from Elba he appointed David a commander of the legion of honour. After the second restoration of Louis XVIII. he was included in the decree which expatriated all the regicides. He established himself in Brussels, where he painted Cupid leaving the arms of Psyche. The last of his productions, Venus, Cupid, and the Graces, disarming Mars, was much admired at Paris. David died in exile at Brussels, December 29, 1825. Various opinions are entertained of his merits. It cannot be denied that his pictures are marked by cold correctness and knowledge of the antique; but the works of the bloody agent of the Reign of Terror scarcely can be said to exhibit the fire of true genius. His most celebrated productions, the Oath of the Horatii, and the Rape of the Sabine Women, were purchased by the French government, and are now to be seen in the gallery of the Luxembourg.
DAVID'S, St, an ancient and decayed episcopal city of Wales, Pembrokeshire, situated on the small river Allan, 15 miles from Haverford-West. A religious establishment was founded here at a very early period, and appears to have been deemed of the highest importance by the ancient Britons. The ecclesiastical buildings suffered severely from a Danish force about 911; and were again much injured by Sweyne, the son of Harold, in 993. William the Conqueror, who entered Wales with a great army, visited this place as a pilgrim and devotee, and made an offering at the shrine of St David. The cathedral, episcopal palace, St Mary's College, and the other ecclesiastical buildings, were enclosed within a lofty embattled wall, more than 1200 yards in circumference, with four strong and handsome gateways. The present cathedral, occupying the site of the more ancient structure, is a venerable Gothic cruciform edifice, commenced in the reign of Henry I., and completed in that of John, but now in a very dilapidated state. A richly ornamented square tower, 127 feet high, surmounts the western end. The length of the building within the walls is 307 feet, of the nave 128, of the choir and chancel 99. The bishop's throne is of exquisite workmanship. Many of the tombs are old and curious. The aisles north and south of the chancel are roofless, and the cloisters and some other parts are mere heaps of ruins. Of the bishop's palace, founded by bishop Gower in the fourteenth century, and one of the most magnificent edifices of the kind in the kingdom, parts of two sides only remain. It appears to have formed a complete quadrangle, inclosing an area of 120 feet square. The grand entrance is a beautiful but ruined gateway. Of St Mary's College, founded by John of Gaunt in 1365, the only relic is a chapel which has long been without a roof,
and is fast going to decay. The shrine of St David was for ages regarded as possessing a peculiar sanctity, and was resorted to by crowds of pilgrims. At the western extremity of the town is an ancient cross, where the market was formerly held. Besides the few clergy who perform duty in the cathedral, the inhabitants of St David's are chiefly labourers employed on the adjacent farms. Every part of the surrounding country was at one time covered with chapels, crosses, and sainted wells. It still abounds with relics of Druidical usages. St David's Head, the most western point of Wales, is a lofty, rugged, and gloomy promontory, about two miles N.W. of the city.