KEY IDEAS
The Rococo style was replaced by the
Neoclassical style, which was perceived as more
democratic.
Neo = new
Classical = refers to the works of ancient Greece and Rome
Industrial Revolution
The late eighteenth century was the age of the Industrial Revolution: new technologies such as cast iron were introduced into architecture, and for the first time it became more economical to work with bronze than marble.
Populations boomed as mass-production, technological innovation, and medical science marched relentlessly forward. The improvements in the quality of life that the Industrial Revolution yielded were often offset by a new slavery to mechanized work and inhumane working conditions.
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment brought about a rejection of royal and aristocratic authority. A period of intellectual transformation took place, in which philosophers and scientists based their ideas on logic and observation, rather than tradition and folk wisdom.
A deliberate structuring of knowledge...
Denis Diderot (1713-1784) organized and edited a massive 52-volume French encyclopedia in 1764.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) composed the first English dictionary single-handedly in 1755.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau discussed how a legitimate government was an expression of the general will in his 1762
Social Contract.
What did these societal changes mean for artists?
Some artists, like Jacques Louis David, were caught up in the turbulent politics of the time and advocated the sweeping societal changes that they thought the French Revolution espoused.
Rome = nexus of inspiration
Rome was the place to be-to see the past. New artistic life was springing up all over Europe, leaving Rome as the custodian of inspiration and tradition, but not of progress.
A HUGE discovery
Italy's seminal position as a cultural cornucopia was magnified in 1748 by the discovery of the buried city of Pompeii. Suddenly genuine Roman works were being dug up daily, and the world could admire an entire ancient city.
Winckelmann's publications
The discovery of Pompeii inspired art theorist Johann Winckelmann (1717-1768) to publish
The History of Ancient Art in 1764, which many consider the first art history book. Winckelmann heavily criticized the waning Rococo as decadent, and celebrated the ancients for their purity of form and crispness of execution.
Rise of the Academy Structure
Because of renewed interest· in studying the ancients, art academies began to spring up around Europe and in the United States. Artists were trained in what the academy viewed as the
proper classical tradition, part of that training sent many artists to Rome to study works firsthand.
Neoclassical Architecture
Influences: Andrea Palladio (Renaissance architect) and Inigo Jones.
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF NEOCLASSICAL ART
• COMPOSITION
-Mathematical,
ordered, well-planned.
-Harmony, symmetry and balance of forms;
triangular compositional structure used most frequently.
• SUBJECT MATTER
-
History paintings (scenes from
pre-Republican Rome)
-Even if works of art depict current events or contemporary portraits, there are frequent
classical allusions.
Several factors helped shape what artists were including in their work...
1) French Academy
Those deemed 'noble' and acceptable were scenes from classical antiquity... history paintings.
2) Unearthing of Pompeii
The fact that the entire city of Pompeii was rediscovered at this time invariably contributed to the fact that a) French Academies thrived in the first place, but b) artists began to include, with great frequency, figures relating to classical antiquity (the very land being excavated).
3) Politics
Artists associated with the revolutionary causes in France used pre-Republican Roman subjects as a model through which they amplified their own visions of what they wished to achieve in their own country. The ideals associated with this pre-Republican time were treasured by those who had become disenchanted with the French monarchy's inability to administer fair and just rule in the land.
• INTERPRETATION
Whereas the playful Rococo art maintained a light-hearted quality that, for the most part, lacked true substance, works created in the Neoclassical period drew upon the Enlightenment's charge for imbuing reason, meaning, substance into that which one decides to do. Therefore, all frivolous subject matter, superficiality, and flights of aristocratic fancy were replaced with substantial, purpose-driven themes, individuals, and events... for, this new art was used as a means to bring much more than 'pleasure' to the mere eyes of select individuals, but as a visual catalyst through which the eyes of the entire democracy would transmit to their hearts the underlying 'substance' communicated in the paint... the stuff powerful enough to encourage a revolution.
Stoicism - remaining calm, cool, and collected under extreme emotional pressure
Reason over passion - using one's mind to suppress / control the emotions.
Patriotism - self-sacrifice for the greater good (for the Republic...the people)
• PROPAGANDA
Imagery directed towards the masses in order to influence their opinion for a particular cause.
• OTHER CHARACTERISTICS
-Color is very limited / restrained; the most commonly used color is red
.
-Movement is restrained for the most part; figures appear statuesque. The reason for this may be due to the fact that many were drawn from ancient statues, but also because the artists wished to imbue their figures with a sense of immobility.
-Lack of depth; shallow space employed to force the action to the foreground. Many backgrounds are mere backdrops in Neoclassical painting.
-Emphasis on
sharp edges; emphasis on
line and
drawing
-Smooth canvas; lack of physical texture; canvas is smooth as glass (
not painterly)
-In general, Neoclassical works of art
meant to appeal to the general public, the democracy, the population at large. The idea and importance placed on the
specific, the
individual was small. The message needed to have
universal appeal!
JACQUES LOUIS DAVID
OATH OF THE HORATII
 |
| The Oath of the Horatii 1784 |
David concurred with Enlightenment ideas - moral subjects
Source of subject matter = pre-Republican Rome
a) first recorded by ancient Roman historian Livy
b) Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) - retold this story in a play in Paris
Warring cities of Rome vs Alba
Leaders from each side must chose 3 representatives to battle.
Rome (shown here) chose the Horatius brothers, who were set to fight three sons of the Curatius family from Alba.
One of the female figures on right side is a Horatius sister (Camilla), engaged to one of the Curatius sons.
Another is married to the youngest Horatius brother, but is sister to the Curatius family.
The Horatii swear allegiance to their father, who holds their 3 swords high.
The unswerving composure of the men on the left side contrasts to the anguish and sorrow experienced by their female counterparts.
Message: LOVE vs PATRIOTISM ...of heroic nature
-self-sacrifice for the greater good
-one of duty, for the cause... because it is the 'right thing' to do
The message is reinforced in the COMPOSITIONAL ARRANGEMENT
Composition is organized, rational, triangulation = solidity, immovability
Shallow space forces drama of scene close to viewer (somewhat stage-like)
Light and shadow - intense, employed to create clarity and reinforce intensity of scene
Background - Roman (arches and columns), rather simplified
Figures are simplified, statuesque, rigid
Compare masculine forms (rigid, stable) on left to the feminine forms on right (softer, curvilinear); reinforcing the emotional contrast of
stoicism and
anguish.
Painting was a sensation at first exhibition in Paris (1785)
Not really intended as a means to stir revolutionary sentiment, because it was painted in Italy under royal French patronage.
The style seen here would eventually find favor in the revolutionary sentiment brewing in Paris and would invariably find use in stirring such viewers to act upon their ideals. In this vein, such images should be viewed as
sheer, unmitigated, unadulterated propaganda - paintings being used to swerve the hearts and minds of the public into believing in a cause.
DEATH OF MARAT
The revolt against the French monarchy in 1789 referred to as the French Revolution was fueled by ideas in the Enlightenment, but the initial causes were due to the economic crisis and clashes of social class.
Social structure:
First Estate: Clergy
Second Estate: Nobility
Third Estate: Bourgeoisie, peasantry, and urban / rural workers
Marat was friend to the artist David. The both of them were members of the Jacobins, a radical and militant revolutionary faction representing the Third Estate.
David assumed the role of de facto
minister of propaganda - the responsibilities of which included political ceremonies, pageants, and meetings which aroused the public's spirit for change. David knew that the visual arts played a large role in educating the masses and used such images, loaded with revolutionary undertones, to effectively fulfil his position.
This is not a scene from antiquity, but from
real life.
Marat suffered from a rare
skin disease, which necessitated him spending a great amount of time in a bathtub treatment. So dedicated to the cause of the people, Marat constructed a
make-shift desk in order to pursue, even through his suffering state, the work that was needed to bring about the much needed change, fairness, and equality in his country.
Marat was
tragically murdered by a member of a rival political faction, Charlotte Corday. She murdered him in cold blood, because she felt his poignant words to be a threat. Marat holds in his left hand a letter, in his right hand - the pen.
The
blood-stains are present throughout the composition (towels, letter, tub water, body of Marat), but is most conspicuously present on the butcher knife used to murder Marat. The knife used to murder this man is powerfully juxtaposed in close proximity to the quill that Marat's lifeless hand still grips - the
inked quill, the true weapon feared by those opposing the change espoused by such a man... that of ideas, information, truth.
Note the
wound in Marat's body, which alludes to the wounds of Christ.
The side table upon which Marat's ink well rests bears the words "A Marat" and "David" - a tribute to both individuals. This
inscription, coupled with the fact that it appears very similar to the
shape of a tombstone, alludes to the idea of a tribute.
Marat's lifeless pose recall's that of Christ in
Michelangelo's Pieta (in St. Peter's). This, therefore basically becomes an
altarpiece - for the new "civic religion" of the revolution.
David sheds
intense light (both figuratively and physically) upon dead body of Marat with an illumination remeniscent of
Caravaggio's tenebrism.
The
starkness of the setting forces the viewer to focus on the figure of Marat; nothing else matters (no background or extraneous elements). Delivery of information is of paramount importance... clarity of the
essentials and
without any risk of confusion.
Recording an event... yes; but much more than that... to evoke sympathies in the public for this martyr.
 |
| Death of Marat 1793 |
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
He capitalized on the disarray caused by the French Revolution. He reestablished order for the people, establishing an alternate form of monarchy, with himself as the head.
Served in a commanding capacity for the French army... major campaigns in Italy and Egypt
In 1799 - he became "first consul" of the French Republic (title w/ clear links to the ancient Roman Republic)
For the next 15 years, he used his ambition to gain control of almost the entire continent of Europe.
A big year: 1804
• became King of Italy
• Pope journeyed to Paris for his coronation as Emperor of France
A disastrous campaign #1: 1812
Invaded Russia, but ended up in retreat
Disastrous campaign #2: 1815
Suffered a devastating loss at the hands of the British at Waterloo (present day Belgium)
An ugly finale
Napoleon was forced to abdicate the throne
Entered exile on island of St. Helena (South Altantic)
Died on the island 6 years later
Europe after-Napoleon - during the first half of the 19th Century
• Change in political geography
* Changes in technology and economics (Industrial Revolution)
-Population increasing
-Rising of the middle class prominence within population
-Railroads = ease of transportation (people and goods)
-Industry centered greatly around idea of manufacturing, production, reproduction
*probably the greater factors transforming the continent
----------------------------------------------
Jacques Louis David: phase 2 (post-Revolution)
After the Revolution, David became painter to Napoleon Bonaparte.
CORONATION OF NAPOLEON
 |
| Coronation of Napoleon 1805-1808 |
How did Napoleon insist upon being represented?
1)
Polarization of people in crowd (as seen in the
Oath);
-left side containing members of Napoleon's realm
-right side comprised of prelates, priests and the Pope (members of the Catholic Church)
Napoleon conscious of the concept of
separation of "church and state" and therefore had David structure his composition accordingly.
2) Napoleon also insisted upon having the Pope painted in the act of raising his hand in a
gesture of "blessing", as if Napoleon is being religiously acknowledged as divine leader / supreme ruler of Europe.
3) Furthermore, Napoleon chose to have himself represented in the act of
crowning his wife, Josephine. Napoleon has just been crowned Emperor of France, and by choosing to have this event represented at the moment immediately afterward (exercising his assumed power), one must assume he wishes the image to underscore his authority.
4)
Napoleon's mother, featured prominently in the center of the background, refused to attend this event. However, she miraculously appears in the painted record of this pompous event.
5)
Size: the fact that this painting is absolutely huge indicates the perception that Napoleon wished to communicate through this image.
FROM NEOCLASSICISM TO ROMANTICISM
Jacques-Louis David's stature and prominence as an artist and his commitment to classicism attracted numerous students, including Antoine-Jean Gros, Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Although they were deeply influenced by David, these artists also moved beyond the somewhat structured confines of Neoclassicism in their exploration of the exotic and the erotic and in the use of fictional narratives for the subjects of their paintings.
 |
| Napoleon at the Pesthouse at Jaffa |
Antoine-Jean Gros's painting of
Napoleon at the Pesthouse at Jaffa presents an exalted public image of Napoleon as a compassionate and fearless leader by showing him touching, as if capable of miraculously healing, the sores of a plague victim. The mosque courtyard with its Moorish arcades in the background reveals Gros's fascination with the exoticism of the Near East.
