Neoclassicism

Question 1

Rise of Neoclassicism

Answer 1

1. age of reason - the enlightenment
   — thoughts and behaviour guided by reasoning and knowledge
   — condemned the insincerity and extravagance of Baroque and Rococo art
   — revival of classical culture - reasoning(philosophy), search for truth, democracy, back to nature
   — Denis diderot - world first encyclopedia, scientific method of ordering knowledge
2. Archaeological discoveries
   — attracted scholars from all over europe to italy
   — fascination with classical antiquity and art
3. Age of Revolution and growth of nationalism
   — glorifies civic virtues as well as great leaders and personages

Question 2

The Grand tour

Answer 2

1. cultural tourism since the 17thcentury a rite of passage for aristocratic young men –part of their education is to learn from the great cultures of the past
2. involved three or four years of travel around Europe
3. an extensive sojourn in Italy, primary destination was ROME, but stayed also in other places
4. new attractions from 18th century –Vesuvian cities, ancient Greek and Roman cities and colonies

Question 3

Anton von Maron - Portrait of Johann Joachim Winckelmann

Answer 3

1. german art historian
2. visited the excavation sites of pompeii, wrote periodic reports on the sites

Question 4

Johann Joachim Winckelmann

Answer 4

1. father of classical archaeology
   — drawings created to record the findings, using linearism
2. first to make a distinction between original greek works and roman copies
3. argued for the superiority of greek art over roman art
   — manifests noble simplicity
4. systematic study of the development of Greek art - divided into four periods

Question 5

Neoclassic style - characteristics

Answer 5

1. classical themes and subject matter, referencing historical models (later also medieval sources)
2. upholds values of civic virtues, e.g. heroism, self sacrifice, honesty etc
3. historical accuracy based on detailed drawings of works of antiquity
4. idealization to achieve perfection and universality
5. formal, straightforward composition
6. saturated, sober colours
7. manifests austerity and severity

Question 6

Anton Raphael Mengs

Answer 6

1. pioneers of Neoclassicism
2. german painter
3. stayed in Rome, intersted in classical and renaissance art
4. called for a return to a serene, intellectual art
5. published “reflections on beauty and taste in Painting” - a manifesto of neoclassicism

Question 7

Angelica Kauffman

Answer 7

1. pioneers of Neoclassicism
2. swiss born Austrian, trained in Italy
3. student of Joshua Reynolds
4. founding member of Royal academy of arts

Question 8

Anton Raphael Mengs - perseus and Andromeda

Answer 8

1. theme taken from greek mythology
2. Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, killed the sea monster and saved Andromeda
3. classical ideal beauty and harmony - apollo of belvedere

Question 9

Angelica Kauffman - Corenlia, mother of the Gracchi, presenting her children as her treasures

Answer 9

1. roman interiors, roman costume, statue-like poses
2. Corenelia - mother of two future roman political leaders, was praised as a model of virtue in roman history

Question 10

Jacques-Louis David

Answer 10

1. French Neoclassicism and Age of Revolution
2. consciously detached from the Rococo style of his distant relative Francois Boucher
3. trained by an early neo-classicist in Paris, furthered studies in Rome
4. joined national assembly, became painter of French Revolution
5. arrested and imprisioned with the revolutionaries
6. released and became painter of Napoleon Bonaparte

Question 11

Jacques-Louis David - self-portrait

Answer 11

1. painted during french revolution

Question 12

Jacques- Louis David - oath of the Horatii between the Hands of their Father

Answer 12

1. grand historical narrative - use of classical elements for the celebration of masculinity and patriotism
   — Horatii brothers had to fight against the Curatii brothers of Alba, who happened to be the husband of one of their sisters and brother of one of their wives - choice between love and patriotism
2. background architecture in greek Doric Order - symbol of masculinity
3. composition - Renaissance rationality
4. stereotype of gender
   — male: proud, heroic and ready to sacrifice
   — female: sentimental and pathetic

Question 13

Jacques-Louis David - Lictors returning to Brutus the bodies of his sons

Answer 13

1. Brutus, founder of Roman republic, ordered the execution of his two sons for treason
2. women - grief, stricken, weak and emotional
3. brutus - placed in a shadowy corner - self-contained and suffers his grief in silence

Question 14

Jacques- Louis David - oath in the tennis court

Answer 14

1. chaotic scene treated with clarity and hierarchy - heightened emotion in the center
   — french revolution broke out and the national assembly was formed in 1789, the revolutionaries met in a tennis court to draft the constitution
   — declaration of the power of the 3 estates: clergy, nobility and the commons
2. details
   — central group - trio of clerics
   — drawing and modelling - excellent anatomical studies of the human body from his academic training
   — idealized with strong musculature - reminiscent of the ideal heroic nude of Michelangelo

Question 14

Jacques- Louis David - oath in the tennis court

Answer 14

1. chaotic scene treated with clarity and hierarchy - heightened emotion in the center
   — french revolution broke out and the national assembly was formed in 1789, the revolutionaries met in a tennis court to draft the constitution
   — declaration of the power of the 3 estates: clergy, nobility and the commons
2. details
   — central group - trio of clerics
   — drawing and modelling - excellent anatomical studies of the human body from his academic training
   — idealized with strong musculature - reminiscent of the ideal heroic nude of Michelangelo and classical art
   — human body as the principle means of narration - clothes were added to the nudes after the overall composition was completed

Question 15

Jacques-Louis David - Death of Marat

Answer 15

1. friend of david, murdered by Charloette Corday
2. during the reign of terror, Marat prepared long lists of rivalries to be killed brutally
3. treated like a saint, a martyr of the revolution
4. reference to the religious art of Caravaggio and Michelangelo
5. details
   — motive of the murder is written on paper
   — marat was writing an instruction of benevolence
   — like a tombstone, “To Marat, David year- two”

Question 16

Jacques-Louis David - Coronation of Napoleon

Answer 16

1. Napoleon crowned himself and then his wife Josephine in Notre Dame Cathedral Paris
2. fairly faithful reconstruction of the scene

Question 17

Jacques-Louis David - Bonaparte at Saint-Bernard pass

Answer 17

1. in Grand style - follows the tradition of equestrian portrait or statue - especially for monarchs and noblemen
2. majestic pose showing his leadership of the victorious troops across the Alpine pass
3. idealized and romantic in mood
4. historically untrue - betrayed of the values of enlightenment
5. Napoleon’s name is placed with those of Charlemagne and Hannibal

Question 18

Antoine-Jean Gros

Answer 18

1. french neoclassicists
2. student of david
3. never stayed in Rome
4. soldier artist, followed the troops of Napoleon
5. produced history paintings of french battles
6. preferred colourism to linearism
7. exerted influence on romantic painters

Question 19

Antoine-Jean Gros - Bonaparte at Arcole

Answer 19

1. Napoleon was still a general - fighting against Austria in Italy
2. young and energetic image - in vigorous burshwork and colour
3. gros doesnt follow David’s classical style based on drawing
4. romantic in mood

Question 20

Anotine-Jean Gros - Napoleon in the Plague house at Jaffa

Answer 20

1. propaganda of the humanistic and quasi-divine qualities of Napoleon
   — touching the sick people
2. bubonic plague erupted during Napoleon’s near eastern campaign, french troops stopped at Jaffa
3. a shaman is trying to cure the sick turks
4. reminiscent of a miracle performed by Jesus Christ

Question 21

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Answer 21

1. French Neoclassicists - student of david
2. faithful to Neoclassicist principles, pursued a truer and purer greek style
3. admired Raphael - captured highest ideal of humanity
4. developed a strongly personal linear style
5. linearism - believed to be ancient painting style (e.g. greek vase painting or sketches copying from pompeiian frescoes)
6. condemned romanticism, though influenced by their taste for exotic culture

Question 22

jean Auguste Dominique Ingres - Apotheosis of Homer

Answer 22

1. celebration of Homer and other ancient and modern personages, including artists, writers, poets, musicians, painters and philosophers
2. inspired by Raphael’s frescoes in Vatican Palace
3. Personification of the iliad and the Odyssey
4. Raphael, Dante, Nicolas Poussin, French writers

Question 23

jean Auguste Dominique Ingres - Napoleon on the Imperial Throne

Answer 23

1. rendered like an ancient Roman emperor - frontal, majestic, quasi-divine image of a world ruler

Question 24

jean Auguste Dominique Ingres - La Grande Odalisque

Answer 24

1. european slave in an oriental harem
2. orientalism - exploration of exotic art and lifestyle - had its boom in 19th century
3. body is elongated for geometrical perfection
4. raphaelesque female head - light features, soft and sweet

Question 25

jean Auguste Dominique Ingres - Turkish Bath

Answer 25

1. Turkish Bath - a legacy of ancient roman bath culture
2. composition with curve forms of female bodies
3. viewer is peeping through a round window
4. work of orientalism

Question 26

jean Auguste Dominique Ingres - Valpincon Bather

Answer 26

1. an anonymous nude study
2. female bodies for his composition - from his own studies, Renaissance art, newly discovered frescoes in Pompeii and Herculaneum