Alfred the Great necessary, that each man keep carefully his oath and his pledge" which expresses a fundamental tenet of Anglo-Saxon law. Alfred devoted considerable attention and thought to judicial matters. Asser underscores his concern for judicial fairness. Alfred, according to Asser, insisted upon reviewing contested judgments made by his ealdormen and reeves and "would carefully look into nearly all the judgements which were passed [issued] in his absence anywhere in the realm to see whether they were just or unjust". A charter from the reign of his son Edward the Elder depicts Alfred as hearing one such appeal in his chamber while
The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons caution, "The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons" was almost not shown because of concerns about inflaming pro-revolutionary passions. The public's insistence was too great, however, and the authorities were forced to give in. After its first exhibition, David's friend, the actor François-Joseph Talma, played the title role in Voltaire's "Brutus" and added in a scene in which the stage direction exactly replicated the composition of the already famous painting. Contemporaneously with David, the painter Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807) was commissioned by Polish royalty to create a work she entitled "Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death for Treason".