The violence of the scenes he depicted and the highly emotional expressiveness with which he rendered the characters involved became a hallmark of his oeuvre. Even though the critics later tried to dissuade him of such mannerisms, he held steadfastly to a credo that the voice of the artist, in contrast to those of falsehood, corruption and oppression is marked by its immoderation. Hardly a dozen years ago, another work which had also just been reattributed to him was hailed as the chef-d'oeuvre of the Museum of the French Revolution. Entitled The Homeland in Danger , it was painted to help institute a conscription system adopted by the Council of Five Hundred to protect the country from the armies of the Second Coalition that had begun threatening its borders in the spring of 1799. In the center, the elite of the French youth breathe the fire of combat and their mood anticipates victory.
Victory is writ large on their generous faces and their forceful aspects.
Enflamed and beautiful with the virtue and the passion for liberty, the women love these heroes. It is faith that gives them title to love and glory, the two passions that are truly French. The intensity of Lethiere's political conviction in all probability stemmed from his racially mixed heritage. To someone like himself, all the rhetoric regarding Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite would have been that much more urgent. Persons attempting to bring anyone of this racially proscribed group into the country would be fined.