As becoming a classicist David had strong faith that art must be useful to his contemporaries. The progressive philosophes were enthusiastic about the classical antiquity by reflecting ancient spirit in their society, and David who was close to them inherited and developed classicism both in style and content actively. David's idea that art ought to contribute to the progress of the human spirit gave rise to resistance against the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The Royal Academy was the despotic power system which suppressed the freedom of artists to satisfy autocrats. David's hostility to the Royal Academy promoted his progressive inclination to the more radical one, and led him to tie up with revolutionists. The revolutionists wanted to form a new society and David desired eagerly to establish ideal surroundings as an artist. That is, David's interests were in accord with theirs. Finally, the Royal Academy was broke up by David's effort. In doing so, he reformed and dominated the art of his own day and became a revolutionary artist. David sympathized with revolutionary generation in a religious viewpoint. David planned the Fête of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being was a kind of god created by the revolutionary government. For the person who looked forward to establishing a new state, the traditional Catholic was the typical power system which suppressed the people by preaching them to obey. David and the leaders of the French Revolution, however, did not deny god and religion itself. The revolutionary government took the position that a religion was necessary to unite the people and to secure social stability. David joined the Theophilanthrophy. It was an all-embracing religion for the people which proclaimed the existence of god and the immortality of the soul and preached tolerance and the importance of one's duty to one's fellow man. It could make sure that David's political activities and his view of art were inseparably related to each other. By accepting classicism David realized the social importance of art and got a progressive idea at the same time. As he got more radical thought, his concern moved away from canvas. Needless to say, David's inclination to politics and desire for power can not be eliminated in referring to his social participation. The substantial aspect of his sense of social participation, however, was his desire to develop artistic capacity in a society given a guarantee of the individual freedom.

1. 머리말
 2. 고전주의 수용과 미술의 사회적 유용성 인식
 3. 아카데미의 권력에 대한 저항
 4. 반(反)기독교적 종교관
 5. 맺음말

• 박화선(충북대학교) | Park HwaSeon