The Influence of More Austere Classical Subjects Neoclassical Art Is Found in the Operas of

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism refers to movements in the arts that draw inspiration from the "classical" fine art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.

Learning Objectives

Identify attributes of Neoclassicism and some of its key figures

Key Takeaways

Fundamental Points

• The superlative of Neoclassicism coincided with the 18th century Enlightenment era, and continued into the early 19th century.
• With the increasing popularity of the Grand Tour, it became stylish to collect antiquities every bit souvenirs, which spread the Neoclassical style through Europe and America.
• Neoclassicism spanned all of the arts including painting, sculpture, the decorative arts, theatre, literature, music, and compages.
• Generally speaking, Neoclassicism is defined stylistically by its use of straight lines, minimal employ of color, simplicity of course and, of grade, an adherence to classical values and techniques.
• Rococo, with its emphasis on disproportion, vivid colors, and decoration is typically considered to exist the direct opposite of the Neoclassical way.

Central Terms

• Grand Tour: The traditional tour of Europe undertaken past mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the appearance of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s.
• Enlightenment: A concept in spirituality, philosophy, and psychology related to achieving clarity of perception, reason, and noesis.
• Rococo: A style of baroque architecture and decorative fine art, from 18th century France, having elaborate ornamentation.

The classical revival, also known as Neoclassicism, refers to movements in the arts that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and civilization of ancient Greece and Rome. The height of Neoclassicism coincided with the 18th century Enlightenment era, and continued into the early 19th century. The dominant styles during the 18th century were Baroque and Rococo. The latter, with its accent on asymmetry, bright colors, and ornamentation is typically considered to exist the direct opposite of the Neoclassical style, which is based on order, symmetry, and simplicity. With the increasing popularity of the Grand Tour, information technology became fashionable to collect antiquities as souvenirs. This tradition of collecting laid the foundations for many smashing art collections and spread the classical revival throughout Europe and America.

Neoclassicism grew to encompass all of the arts, including painting, sculpture, the decorative arts, theatre, literature, music, and architecture. The mode tin mostly be identified by its employ of straight lines, minimal use of color, simplicity of class and, of course, its adherence to classical values and techniques.

In music, the menses saw the ascension of classical music and in painting, the works of Jaques-Louis David became synonymous with the classical revival. However, Neoclassicism was felt most strongly in architecture, sculpture, and the decorative arts, where classical models in the same medium were fairly numerous and accessible. Sculpture in particular had a great wealth of aboriginal models from which to larn, however, near were Roman copies of Greek originals.

Rinaldo Rinaldi, Chirone Insegna Advertising Achille a Suonare La Cetra : Executed in a classical style and adhering to classical themes, this sculpture is a typical example of the Neoclassical way.

Neoclassical architecture was modeled after the classical style and, as with other fine art forms, was in many ways a reaction confronting the exuberant Rococo style. The architecture of the Italian builder Andrea Palladio became very popular in the mid 18th century. Additionally, archaeological ruins found in Pompeii and Herculaneum informed many of the stylistic values of Neoclassical interior pattern based on the ancient Roman rediscoveries.

Villa Godi Valmarana, Lonedo di Lugo, Veneto, Italy: Villa Godi was one of the first works by Palladio. Its austere facade, arched doorways and minimal symmetry reflect his adherence to classical stylistic values.

Neoclassical Paintings

Neoclassical painting, produced by men and women, drew its inspiration from the classical art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the overarching themes nowadays in Neoclassical painting

Key Takeaways

Primal Points

• Neoclassical subject matter draws from the history and general civilization of aboriginal Greece and Ancient Rome. It is often described equally a reaction to the lighthearted and "frivolous" subject thing of the Rococo.
• Neoclassical painting is characterized past the use of straight lines, a smooth paint surface, the depiction of low-cal, a minimal use of color, and the clear, well-baked definition of forms.
• The works of Jacques-Louis David are usually hailed as the prototype of Neoclassical painting.
• David attracted over 300 students to his studio, including Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Marie-Guillemine Benoist, and Angélique Mongez, the concluding of whom tried to extend the Neoclassical tradition beyond her instructor'due south death.

Key Terms

• Enlightenment: A philosophical movement in 17th and 18th century Europe. Also known as the Age of Reason, this was an era that emphasized rationalism.

Background and Characteristics

Neoclassicism is the term for movements in the arts that draw inspiration from the classical art and civilization of aboriginal Greece and Rome. The height of Neoclassicism coincided with the 18th century Enlightenment era and continued into the early 19th century. With the advent of the M Bout—a much enjoyed trip around Europe intended to introduce immature men to the extended civilisation and people of their globe—information technology became fashionable to collect antiquities as souvenirs. This tradition laid the foundations of many great collections and ensured the spread of the Neoclassical revival throughout Europe and America. The French Neoclassical mode would profoundly contribute to the monumentalism of the French Revolution, with the emphasis of both lying in virtue and patriotism.

Neoclassical painting is characterized past the use of straight lines, a smooth paint surface hiding brush work, the depiction of light, a minimal use of color, and the clear, crisp definition of forms. Its bailiwick matter usually relates to either Greco-Roman history or other cultural attributes, such as allegory and virtue. The softness of paint application and light-hearted and "frivolous" discipline thing that characterize Rococo painting is recognized as the reverse of the Neoclassical mode. The works of Jacques-Louis David are widely considered to exist the epitome of Neoclassical painting. Many painters combined aspects of Romanticism with a vaguely Neoclassical style before David'due south success, only these works did not strike any chords with audiences. Typically, the subject matter of Neoclassical painting consisted of the depiction of events from history, mythological scenes, and the architecture and ruins of ancient Rome.

The School of David

Neoclassical painting gained new momentum with the bully success of David'south Oath of the Horatii at the Paris Salon of 1785. The painting had been commissioned past the royal government and was created in a fashion that was the perfect combination of idealized construction and dramatic consequence. The painting created an uproar, and David was proclaimed to take perfectly defined the Neoclassical sense of taste in his painting manner. He thereby became the quintessential painter of the movement. In The Oath of the Horatii, the perspective is perpendicular to the moving-picture show plane. It is defined by a dark arcade behind several classical heroic figures. There is an element of theatre, or staging, that evokes the grandeur of opera. David presently became the leading French painter and enjoyed a groovy bargain of authorities patronage. Over the course of his long career, he attracted over 300 students to his studio.

Jacques-Louis David. The Oath of the Horatii (1784): Oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a Neoclassical painter of history and portraiture, was one of David's students. Securely devoted to classical techniques, Ingres is known to take believed himself to exist a conservator of the style of the ancient masters, although he afterwards painted subjects in the Romantic fashion. Examples of his Neoclassical piece of work include the paintings Virgil Reading to Augustus (1812), and Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864). Both David and Ingres fabricated utilise of the highly organized imagery, direct lines, and clearly defined forms that were typical of Neoclassical painting during the 18th century.

Virgil Reading to Augustus by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1812): Oil on canvas. The Walters Fine art Museum.

While tradition and the rules governing the Académie Française barred women from studying from the nude model (a necessity for executing an effective Neoclassical painting), David believed that women were capable of producing successful art of the style and welcomed many as his students. Among the most successful were Marie-Guillemine Benoist, who eventually won commissions from the Bonaparte family, and Angélique Mongez, who won patrons from every bit far away equally Russia.

Self-Portrait past Marie-Guillemine Benoist (1788): In this untraced oil on canvas, Benoist (then Leroulx de la Ville) paints a section from David'due south acclaimed Neoclassical painting of Justinian'south blinded general Belisarius begging for alms. Her return of the viewer's gaze and classical attire prove her conviction every bit an artist and conformity to creative trends.

Mongez is best known for being one of the few women to paint awe-inspiring subjects that oftentimes included the male nude, a feat for which hostile critics oftentimes attacked her.

Theseus and Pirithoüs Clearing the Earth of Brigands, Deliver Ii Women from the Hands of Their Abductors by Angélique Mongez (1806): Oil on canvas. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Mongez and Antoine-Jean Gros, another of David'due south students, tried to carry on the Neoclassical tradition after David'southward death in 1825 but were unsuccessful in face of the growing popularity of Romanticism.

Neoclassical Sculpture

A reaction confronting the "frivolity" of the Rococo, Neoclassical sculpture depicts serious subjects influenced by the ancient Greek and Roman by.

Learning Objectives

Explain what motifs are mutual to Neoclassical sculpture

Fundamental Takeaways

Key Points

• Neoclassicism emerged in the second one-half of the 18th century, following the excavations of the ruins of Pompeii, which sparked renewed interest in the Graeco-Roman globe.
• Neoclassical sculpture is defined by its symmetry, life-sized to awe-inspiring scale, and its serious subject thing.
• The subjects of Neoclassical sculpture ranged from mythological figures to heroes of the past to major contemporary personages.
• Neoclassical sculpture could capture its bailiwick as either idealized or in a more veristic manner.

Key Terms

• verism: An aboriginal Roman technique, in which the subject is depicted with "warts and all" realism.

As with painting, Neoclassicism made its way into sculpture in the second half of the 18th century. In improver to the ethics of the Enlightenment, the excavations of the ruins at Pompeii began to spark a renewed interest in classical culture. Whereas Rococo sculpture consisted of small-scale asymmetrical objects focusing on themes of beloved and gaiety, neoclassical sculpture assumed life-size to monumental scale and focused on themes of heroism, patriotism, and virtue.

In his tomb sculpture, the Enlightenment philosophe Voltaire is honored in true Neoclassical form. In a mode influenced past aboriginal Roman verism, he appears as an elderly man to honor his wisdom. He wears a contemporary commoner'due south blouse to convey his humbleness, and his robe assumes the appearance of an ancient Roman toga from a altitude. Similar his aboriginal predecessors, his facial expression and his body language suggest an air of scholarly seriousness.

Voltaire's tomb.: Panthéon, Paris.

Neoclassical sculptors benefited from an abundance of aboriginal models, albeit Roman copies of Greek bronzes in most cases. The leading Neoclassical sculptors enjoyed much acclamation during their lifetimes. Ane of them was Jean-Antoine Houdon, whose work was mainly portraits, very often every bit busts, which do not sacrifice a stiff impression of the sitter's personality to idealism. His style became more than classical as his long career connected, and represents a rather smooth progression from Rococo amuse to classical nobility. Different some Neoclassical sculptors he did not insist on his sitters wearing Roman dress, or being unclothed. He portrayed most of the great figures of the Enlightenment, and traveled to America to produce a statue of George Washington, as well as busts of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and other luminaries of the new commonwealth. His portrait bust of Washington depicts the offset President of the United States as a stern, yet competent leader, with the influence of Roman verism evident in his wrinkled forehead, receding hairline, and double chin.

Bust of George Washington by Jean-Antoine Houdon (c. 1786)

National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC.

The Italian creative person Antonio Canova and the Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen were both based in Rome, and as well as portraits produced many ambitious life-size figures and groups. Both represented the strongly idealizing tendency in Neoclassical sculpture.

Hebe past Antonio Canova  (1800–05).: Hermitage State Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Canova has a lightness and grace, where Thorvaldsen is more severe. The deviation is exemplified in Canova'southward Hebe (1800–05), whose contrapposto nigh mimics lively trip the light fantastic steps as she prepares to pour nectar and ambrosia from a small amphora into a chalice, and Thorvaldsen'southward Monument to Copernicus (1822-30), whose subject sits upright with a compass and armillary sphere.

Monument to Copernicus by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1822–thirty).: Bronze. Warsaw, Poland.

Neoclassical Compages

Neoclassical architecture looks to the classical by of the Graeco-Roman era, the Renaissance, and classicized Baroque to convey a new era based on Enlightenment principles.

Learning Objectives

Identify what sets Neoclassical compages apart from other
movements

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Neoclassical architecture was produced by the Neoclassical move in the mid 18th century. It manifested in its details every bit a reaction confronting the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of the classicizing features of Tardily Baroque.
• The first phase of Neoclassicism in French republic is expressed in the "Louis XVI manner" of architects like Ange-Jacques Gabriel (Petit Trianon, 1762–68) while the second phase is expressed in the late 18th-century Directoire manner.
• Neoclassical architecture emphasizes its planar qualities, rather than sculptural volumes. Projections and recessions and their effects of light and shade are more than flat, while sculptural bas- reliefs are flatter and tend to be enframed in friezes, tablets, or panels.
• Structures such as the Arc de Triomphe, the Panthéon in Paris, and Chiswick House in London have elements that convey the influence of ancient Greek and Roman compages, as well every bit some influence from the Renaissance and Late Baroque periods.

Neoclassical architecture, which began in the mid 18th century, looks to the classical by of the Graeco-Roman era, the Renaissance, and classicized Bizarre to convey a new era based on Enlightenment principles. This movement manifested in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas equally an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque. In its purest form, Neoclassicism is a way principally derived from the architecture of Classical Hellenic republic and Rome. In form, Neoclassical compages emphasizes the wall and maintains divide identities to each of its parts.

The outset phase of Neoclassicism in France is expressed in the Louis XVI style of architects similar Ange-Jacques Gabriel (Petit Trianon, 1762–68). Ange-Jacques Gabriel was the Premier Architecte at Versailles, and his Neoclassical designs for the royal palace dominated mid 18th century French architecture.

Ange-Jacques Gabriel. Château of the Petit Trianon.: The Petit Trianon in the park at Versailles demonstrates the neoclassical architectural style nether Louis XVI.

Afterward the French Revolution, the 2nd phase of Neoclassicism was expressed in the belatedly 18th century Directoire style. The Directoire style reflected the Revolutionary belief in the values of republican Rome. This style was a menstruation in the decorative arts, mode, and especially furniture design, concurrent with the post-Revolution French Directoire (November 2, 1795–November x, 1799). The manner uses Neoclassical architectural forms, minimal etching, planar expanses of highly grained veneers, and practical decorative painting. The Directoire style was primarily established past the architects and designers Charles Percier (1764–1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine (1762–1853), who collaborated on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which is considered emblematic of French neoclassical architecture.

Arc de Triomphe: The Arc de Triomphe, although finished in the early on 19th century, is emblematic of French neoclassical architecture that dominated the Directoire period.

Though Neoclassical architecture employs the aforementioned classical vocabulary as Belatedly Baroque architecture, it tends to emphasize its planar qualities rather than its sculptural volumes. Projections, recessions, and their effects on light and shade are more flat. Sculptural bas-reliefs are flatter and tend to be framed in friezes, tablets, or panels. Its clearly articulated individual features are isolated rather than interpenetrating, democratic, and complete in themselves.

Fifty-fifty sacred architecture was classicized during the Neoclassical period. The Panthéon, located in the Latin Quarter of Paris, was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Geneviève and to business firm the reliquary châsse containing her relics. Notwithstanding, during the French Revolution, the Panthéon was secularized and became the resting place of Enlightenment icons such as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Designer Jacques-Germain Soufflot had the intention of combining the lightness and effulgence of the Gothic cathedral with classical principles, but its role as a mausoleum required the great Gothic windows to exist blocked. In 1780, Soufflot died and was replaced past his student, Jean-Baptiste Rondelet.

Jacques-Germain Soufflot (original architect) and Jean-Baptiste Rondelet. The Panthéon.: Begun 1758, completed 1790.

Similar to a Roman temple, the Panthéon is entered through a portico that consists of iii rows of columns (in this example, Corinthian) topped past a Classical pediment. In a fashion more than closely related to ancient Hellenic republic, the pediment is adorned with reliefs throughout the triangular space. Beneath the pediment, the inscription on the entablature translates as: "To the corking men, the grateful homeland." The dome, on the other hand, is more influenced by Renaissance and Bizarre predecessors, such as St. Peter'due south in Rome and St. Paul'south in London.

Intellectually, Neoclassicism was symptomatic of a desire to render to the perceived "purity" of the arts of Rome. The movement was also inspired by a more vague perception ("platonic") of Ancient Greek arts and, to a lesser extent, 16th century Renaissance Classicism, which was also a source for bookish Tardily Baroque architecture. In that location is an anti-Rococo strain that can be detected in some European architecture of the earlier 18th century. This strain is nearly vividly represented in the Palladian architecture of Georgian Britain and Republic of ireland.

Lord Burlington. Chiswick House: The pattern of Chiswick House in West London was influenced past that of Palladio's domestic architecture, especially the Villa Rotunda in Venice. The stepped dome and temple façade were conspicuously influenced by the Roman Pantheon.

The tendency toward the classical is too recognizable in the classicizing vein of Late Baroque compages in Paris. Information technology is a robust architecture of self-restraint, academically selective now of "the best" Roman models. These models were increasingly available for shut study through the medium of architectural engravings of measured drawings of surviving Roman architecture.

French Neoclassicism connected to be a major force in academic art through the 19th century and beyond—a constant antithesis to Romanticism or Gothic revivals.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/neoclassicism/

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