Oath of the Horatii it was painted nearly four years before the revolution in France, "The Oath of the Horatii" became one of the defining images of the time. In the painting, the three brothers express their loyalty and solidarity with Rome before battle, wholly supported by their father. These are men willing to lay down their lives out of patriotic duty. With their resolute gaze and taut, outstretched limbs, they are citadels of patriotism. They are symbols of the highest virtues of Rome. Their clarity of purpose, mirrored by David's simple yet powerful use of tonal contrasts, lends the painting, and its message
Gibbon's Tennis Court in 1809. The London School of Economics, which covers most of Clare Market nowadays, retains some squash and real tennis courts in its older buildings. Tudor-style real tennis courts were long, high-ceiling buildings, with galleries for spectators; their dimensions — about 75 by 30 feet — are similar to the earlier theatres, and much larger than a modern tennis court. The tennis courts were not used exclusively for tennis. In 1653, seven years before it saw lawful use as a theatre, an underground production of Killigrew's "Claricilla" was planned for Gibbon's court. The production was broken up before it debuted,