Brutus condemning his sons to death

Guillaume Guillon-Lethière painted "Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death" in 1788, a year before the Revolution made such Republican subjects politically explosive. The story of the first Roman consul who sacrificed his own children for the Republic was one of the most popular subjects in Neoclassical painting—David would treat a related moment in his famous painting of 1789. Lethière, born in Guadeloupe, was one of few artists of African descent working at the highest level.

Lethière composes the dramatic scene with Neoclassical rigor, using a frieze-like arrangement of figures in classical dress. The stark moral intensity and precise drawing show the influence of David's emerging style, applied to a subject of extreme paternal sacrifice.