Guillaume Guillon-Lethière: Oath of the Ancestors
The artist, Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760-1832) was a mixed race product of a French colonial official (in Guadeloupe) and a "mulatto" mother. He moved to France at age 14, studied painting beginning at age 17, and ultimately became a prize-winning artist whose studio was often in direct competition with that of David himself.
This work is a manifesto against slavery and for Haitian independence proclaimed in 1804 by General Jean-Jacques Dessalines before he crowned himself emperor. It is a symbolic representation of the oath exchanged by Alexandre Pétion, chief of the mulattos in Saint-Domingue, and Dessalines, both swearing to drive out the French troops.
An extensive article about the artist is at the PBS web site.
