Jean-Bernard Restout

Jean-Bernard Restout was a painter during the French Revolution and a follower—at least politically—of Jacques-Louis David. While his subject matter of grim scenes of war and chaos was in line with David’s Neoclassicism and rejection of the leisure and luxury Rococo paintings depicted, his ornate brushstrokes and complex textures defied Neoclassical’s bold, plain aesthetics. During the Reign of Terror, Restout was imprisoned for his allegiance with revolutionaries but survived and was freed upon Robespierre’s death.