Who paid Jacques Louis David to paint The Tennis Court Oath?

Answer 1

The Tennis Court Oath painting was commissioned by the Jacobin Club on October 28th 1790 as a commemorative piece of the actual Tennis Court Oath event which took place on June 20, 1789. The original idea was that the project would be financed through the subscription of engravings of the piece, which members of the Jacobin Club had the first opportunity to purchase. The sale of the subscriptions would provide the funding necessary for David to complete the large scale painting which was to be hung in the National Assembly. Due to the fact that not enough subscriptions were sold the project had to be financed initially through the government. A pen and ink drawing was completed in 1791 and shown at the Paris Salon of 1791 as well. This was a small scale drawing and was intended to be a study for the enormous piece David was working on. Because of the tumultuous political climate that was incited by the French Revolution, David had to abandon his project sometime around 1792. There are many conflicting reports surrounding this piece and David supposedly published reports in newspapers in 1801 that he had in fact abandoned the project altogether due to lack of subscription sales, not because of politcial opposition. When the government funding ran out is hard to tell, but I think it may be safe to say that the government that once thought of David's cause as noble had long since changed its mind. I am working on a thesis paper on this subject right now so if anyone has any questions or comments please let me know. ngossage@mills.edu