Real tennis 1599. The game thrived among the 17th-century nobility in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and the Habsburg Empire, but suffered under English Puritanism, as it was heavily associated with gambling. By the Age of Napoleon, the royal families of Europe were besieged and real tennis, a court game, was largely abandoned. Real tennis played a role in the history of the French Revolution, through the Tennis Court Oath, a pledge signed by French deputies in a real tennis court, which formed a decisive early step in starting the revolution. During the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis
The Tennis Court Oath (David) Standards" and his 1814 "Leonidas at Thermopylae" were directly inspired by "The Tennis Court Oath". The work was also reprised and adapted by several artists from the late 18th century onwards. These included Auguste Couder in 1848 and Luc-Olivier Merson in 1883. In 1820, David ceded the engraving rights on Jean Pierre Marie Jazet's engraving of "The Tennis Court Oath" to Daniel Isoard de Martouret. The canvas itself was finally acquired in 1836 by the royal museums for the Louvre, where it was exhibited from 1880 onwards. The Tennis Court Oath (David) The Tennis Court Oath (French: "Le Serment du