雅克·路易·大卫出生于兴隆大家庭在巴黎8月30日1748年当他是大约九他的父亲在决斗中被打死，他的母亲离开了他和他的小康建筑师叔叔。他们看到它，他在接受了良好的教育法兰西学院DES世嘉-国家，巴黎大学，但他从来就不是一个好学生：他有一个面部肿瘤是阻碍他的讲话，他总是忙于绘制。他捂住了笔记本电脑与图纸，他曾经说过，“我总是躲在老师的椅子后面，图纸之类的持续时间”。不久，他希望成为一名画家，但他的叔叔和母亲希望他成为一名建筑师。他战胜了反对派，并从去学习弗朗索瓦·布歇（1703-1770），当时的主导画家，谁也是一个远房亲戚。鲍彻是洛可可画家，但口味正在发生变化，并为洛可可时尚是让位给更古典风格。鲍彻决定，而不是接管大卫的指导下，他会派大卫对他的朋友约瑟夫-玛丽·维恩（一七一六年至1809年），谁拥抱洛可可式古典反应的画家。还有大卫出席了皇家学院，总部设在什么现在是卢浮宫。

每年学院颁发的优秀学生著名的罗马大奖，资助一个三到五年的留在永恒之城。学院的教育计划的高潮，在罗马的旅途提供了其获奖者学习的机会，传统的古代遗迹和意大利文艺复兴时期大师的第一手的作品。每个pensionnaire在法国科学院的罗马前哨，从这些年来1737年至1793年是宫曼奇尼在Via del Corso大街提出。大卫争夺，而未能夺冠，奖金连续三年（含密涅瓦战斗火星，戴安娜和阿波罗杀死尼俄伯的儿童和塞内卡的死亡），每一次的失败促使他对机构终身遗恨。他在1772年第二损失后，大卫就绝食，历时两年半前几天教师鼓励他继续画。自信，他现在已经赢得了奖品所需要的支持和拥护，他恢复了他的研究，只有热情，巨大的失败，再次赢得了罗马大奖来年。最后，在1774年，大卫被授予了罗马大奖在他的绘画的实力埃拉西斯特拉图斯发现安条克病的原因，主题由法官设定。1775年10月，他做了旅途意大利与他的导师约瑟夫-玛丽·维恩，谁刚刚被任命为主任法国科学院在罗马。

而在意大利，大卫特别是研究17世纪的大师如的作品普桑，卡拉瓦乔和卡拉齐。虽然他宣称，“仿古不会勾引我，它缺乏的动画，它不动”，大卫装满了十二个速写本与他和他的工作室作为模型的书籍，他的余生图纸。他被介绍给画家拉斐尔猛的（1728年至1779年），谁反对洛可可绘画的倾向变甜，并淡化古老学科，而不是崇尚古典来源和紧密粘附古代模型的严谨的学风。猛的“原则，历史化的方法来古典学科的代表性深刻影响大卫的革命前的绘画，如该贞洁，大概是从18世纪80年代。猛的还推出了大卫通过古代雕塑的理论著作约翰·约阿希姆·温克尔曼（1717年至1768年），被认为是现代艺术史的奠基人德国学者。1779年，大卫参观新近出土遗址庞贝，这加深了他的信念，古典文化的持续性是其永恒的概念和正式权力的一个指标。而在罗马，大卫还刻苦钻研高文艺复兴时期的画家，拉斐尔使得对年轻的法国艺术家深刻而难忘的印象。
 

Jacques Louis David was born in Paris in August 30th when he was about nine his father was killed in a duel, and his mother left him and his well-off uncle architect in the year of 1748. They see it, he received a good education at College France DES - National University of Paris, Sega, but he is never a good student: he has a facial tumor is hampered by his speech, he is always busy with drawing. He covered his laptop and drawings, he once said, I always hide behind the teacher's chair, drawings and the like of the duration". Soon, he wanted to be a painter, but his uncle and mother wanted him to be an architect. He beat the opposition, and learn from Francois Boucher (1703-1770), leading to the painter, who is also a distant relative. He is a Rococo painter, but the taste is changing, and Rococo fashion is gave way to a more classical style. He decided not to take over David's guidance, he will send David to his friend Joseph Mary Wayne (1716 - 1809), who embraced the classical Rococo painter reaction. And David attended the Royal Academy, based in what is now Le Louvre museum.
Each year the Academy awarded outstanding students to the prestigious Rome prize, funded by a three to five year stay in the eternal city. The culmination of the college education program in Rome offers the first opportunity for its winners to learn the opportunity of the traditional ancient ruins and the Renaissance masters of Italy. Each pensionnaire at the French Academy of Rome outpost, from the years 1737 to 1793 is the palace of Mancini in Via del Corso street. For David, but failed to win, bonuses for three consecutive years (death with Minerva battle Mars, Diana and Appollo to kill Niobe children and Seneca), every failure prompted him to a lifelong grudge mechanism. He in 1772 second after the loss, David is a hunger strike, which lasted two years a few days before half the teacher encouraged him to continue painting. Confident that he has now won the prize for the support and support he needs to recover from his research, only the enthusiasm, the great failure, once again won the Rome Grand Prix next year. Finally, in 1774, David was awarded the Rome prize in his painting the strength of Ella Cist Lattus's discovery of the cause of the disease, the subject set by the judge. In October 1775, he made a trip to Italy with his mentor Joseph - Mary Wayne, who has just been appointed director of the French Academy of Sciences in Rome.
In Italy, David especially on seventeenth Century masters such as the works of Poussin, Caravaggio and karachi. Although he claimed, "antique not seduce me, it lacks the animation, it does not move," David filled twelve sketch books with him and his studio as a model for the rest of his life to books, drawings. He was introduced to the painter Rafael (1728 to 1779) Meng, who opposed the tendency of Rococo sweet, and dilute the old disciplines, rather than advocating classical sources and closely adhering to the rigorous study ancient model. Meng "principle, method of history to represent the classical subject painting David before the revolution of profound influence, such as the chaste, probably from 1780s. Meng also introduced the theoretical works of ancient sculpture by David John Joachim Winkelmann (1717 to 1768), is considered the founder of modern art in the history of German scholars. In 1779, David visited the newly unearthed ruins of Pompeii, which deepened his faith, persistence of classical culture is an indicator of the concept of eternity and formal power. While in Rome, David also worked hard at the Renaissance painter, Rafael made a profound and unforgettable impression on young French artists.