I succumbed to temptation during some recent sales at Better World Books; this good-condition hardcover is one of my choices. It's from the "Louvre" series of graphic novels, each centered on the Louvre but by a different artist and with very different stories. (Glacial Period is another in this series.)

This one, set during the French Revolution, focuses on the artist Jacque-Louis David and the inspirations for his paintings - and uses details from many actual paintings (David's and others) as illustrations and background. Since the political situation was rather dicey at the time, David's commissions from the revolutionary leaders were important, but in this story he gets fascinated with a young foreigner whom he wants to use as a model for his painting "The Death of Joseph Bara". But the stranger makes claims that rile the revolutionaries, and David runs considerable risk in continuing to associate with him at all. What happens then... well, it demonstrates the extremes to which a dedicated artist might go.

The part of the story about the painter's model is fictional, but many of the other incidents and speeches are historically accurate, and the book does give an uneasy look at a very turbulent time - while splashing the pages with some of the most stunning paintings and sculpture in the world...

There's an appendix with a list of all the artworks shown, something I found very helpful.

I'm taking this to the Boston BookCrossers meetup at Panera Bread in Brookline, for anyone who'd like to read it - whether you're attending the meetup or not! Hope someone enjoys the book!

On the bookshelves in the second floor library.
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