What historical event inspired The Lictors Bringing to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons?

The painting The Lictors Bringing to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons depicts the story of the Roman consul Lucius Junius Brutus, who famously condemned his own sons to death after they conspired to restore the deposed king Tarquinius Superbus.12

While the work serves as a lesson in self-sacrifice and republican virtue, it was not inspired by a specific contemporary event at the time of its creation in 1789. However, by the time the painting was exhibited, the French Revolution had begun, and the image of a patriotic leader sacrificing his family for the sake of the state took on an unanticipated and powerful political significance.2