John Paul Marat was constantly stirring up trouble and suspicion with those people who were in power. The lower class people would always side with Marat as he was the one who would stand up and be courageous enough to speak out against the ones in power. Yet in the painting he was painted as a victim of a horrendous crime. The painting made Marat seem completely innocent when in reality he had somewhat deserved what he got. So the differences that are present between the real John Paul Marat and the John Paul Marat that was portrayed David for the benefit of his own fortune are countless.
To the Jacobins, Marat seemed to help them prosper more after he was dead than the politician himself. Many changes had been made throughout France reflecting Marat; “Place names were altered so that Montmartre became Mont-Marat; rue des Cordeliers, the rue Marat, and over thirty communes throughout the Republic incorporated the martyr in their new name.” But, only after the entire public had witnessed the false representation painted by David.
We have to recognie that in this artwork we are being blind-sided. David supporting the Jacobins is a big factor in how the painting impacted the people because we do not hear Corday’s or the rest of the Girondins who particulary hated Marat; we only heard the opinion of someone who was a dear friend and is obviously going to back him up. The different political viewpoints and interpretations in themselves affect the reliability and accuracy of the representation, because “all reflections in history are biased documents.” These documents have a major impact on every aspect around how the future plays out; actions, reactions, perceptions, and interpretations all depend on the facts. Subsequently, we can not take the painting for the face value alone, we need to be educated on the possible opposing viewpoints.
To the Jacobins, Marat seemed to help them prosper more after he was dead than the politician himself. Many changes had been made throughout France reflecting Marat; “Place names were altered so that Montmartre became Mont-Marat; rue des Cordeliers, the rue Marat, and over thirty communes throughout the Republic incorporated the martyr in their new name.” But, only after the entire public had witnessed the false representation painted by David.
We have to recognie that in this artwork we are being blind-sided. David supporting the Jacobins is a big factor in how the painting impacted the people because we do not hear Corday’s or the rest of the Girondins who particulary hated Marat; we only heard the opinion of someone who was a dear friend and is obviously going to back him up. The different political viewpoints and interpretations in themselves affect the reliability and accuracy of the representation, because “all reflections in history are biased documents.” These documents have a major impact on every aspect around how the future plays out; actions, reactions, perceptions, and interpretations all depend on the facts. Subsequently, we can not take the painting for the face value alone, we need to be educated on the possible opposing viewpoints.