Jacques-Louis David, The Dead Marat, 1793, oil on canvas, 165 x 128cm. Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels.
Marat was a leader of the Jacobins against the Girondists during the French Revolution. As a journalist and a deputy to the national convention, Marat was notorious for his support of popular violence and his advocacy of dictatorship. From the days of the revolution, those on the left and right have strongly disagreed about Marat’s ideas and character. Leftists have usually admired him as the “people’s friend” and been impressed by his devotion to the revolutionary cause, his militant attacks on economic injustices, and his outspoken defense of popular violence. Conservatives and moderates, in contrast, have usually detested him as a vengeful fanatic partly responsible for the Reign of Terror.