Jacques Louis David (Born 1748) was born in a wealthy family. When he was about 9 years old his father was killed in a duel and his mother left him with his architect uncles who were equally prosperous. They ensured that Louis David received an excellent education at the College des Quatre-Nations. However, he was not good academically: he had a facial tumor that interfered with his speech, so he was always spent his time drawing. He used to hide behind the instructor's chair and draw during class time. He soon made up his mind to become an artist but his mother and uncles wanted him to be an architect. He managed to overcome the opposition and went to learn from a leading painter of the time, Francois Boucher, who was also his distant relative. Boucher decided that instead of tutoring David, he would send him to his friend called Joseph-Marie Vien.
There David attended the Royal Academy, based in the Louvre. Vien was a painter who embraced the classical reaction to Rococo. Between 1770 and 1774, David attempted to win an art scholarship to the French Academy in Rome, the Prix de Rome, four times but failed. This infuriated him and in protest, he attempted suicide by starving himself. He won the scholarship in 1774 but it was a normal practice that he was required to attend another school before attending the Academy in Rome. However, Vien’s influence made him to pass this step, and he went with Vien to Italy in 1775 to attend the academy. That’s where he studied and became a professional artist.
