ART AND MUSIC IN THE AGE OF
ENLIGHTENMENT

ROCOCO
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ROCOCO WAS
INTRODUCED IN THE
1730s
STRESSED GRACE
AND GENTLE ACTION
CURVES AND
NATURAL SETTINGS
SECULAR
GOLDS AND CREAMS

BAROQUE-ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
BALTHASAR NEUMANN 1687-1753

NEUMANN’S FOURTEEN SAINTS

ROCOCO ART: ANTOINE WATTEAU
 WATTEAU (1684-1721)- FRENCHMAN
WHOSE WORK CENTERED AROUND
TOWN LIFE IN FRANCE
 KNOWN FOR LYRICAL VIEWS OF
NOBLE LIFE WITH UNDERLYING
SADNESS
 THEMES OF COURTLY LOVE

WATTEAU’S DELIGHT OF LIFE

WATTEAU’S EMBARKATION TO
CYTHERA

G.B. TIEPOLO – ROCOCO ARTIST
1696-1770
 ITALIAN WHO HAS BEEN CALLED A
“UNIVERSAL PAINTER”
 ABILITY TO CREATE MASTERPIECES IN
ALL FIELDS OF PAINTING: FRESCOES,
RELIGIOUS & CIVIC ART, PORTRAITS,
SKETCHES, ETCHINGS
 KNOWN FOR HIS ELEGANT & LIGHT
STYLE

TIEPOLOS’ WOMAN WITH MANDOLIN

TIEPOLO’S SEATED RIVER GOD

JEAN HONORÉ FRAGONARD
 LATE ROCOCO FRENCH ARTIST (1732-
1806)
 KNOWN FOR HEDONISTIC AND LUSH
SCENES
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PLAYFUL SUBJECT MATTER
THICK USE OF PAINT —IMPASTO

FRAGONARD’S
HAPPY
ACCIDENTS OF
THE SWING

NEOCLASSICAL ART 17 TH & 18 TH
CENTURY MOVEMENT
 NEOCLASSICAL ARTISTS SOUGHT TO
RECAPTURE THE DIGNITY AND
SIMPLICITY OF THE CLASSICAL APPEAL
OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS
 IMPORTANT ARTISTS IN THIS ERA
INCLUDED NICOLAS POUSSIN AND
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID

NICOLAS POUSSIN - FRENCH
NEOCLASSICAL PAINTER 1594-1665

POUSSIN’S RAPE OF THE SABINE
WOMEN

POUSSIN’S LANDSCAPE

JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID FRENCH
NEOCLASSICAL ARTIST (1748-1825)

BAROQUE MUSIC STYLE 1600-1750
• ORNATE AND COMPLEX MUSICAL PATTERNS
• RELIGIOUS FOCUS, BUT ALSO SECULAR MUSIC
• OPERA, CONCERTO, CHAMBER MUSIC, ORATORIO,
HARPSICHORD

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH 1685-1750
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Mass in B Minor
Saint Matthew’s Passion
 Cantatas (choral work)
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Motets ("a cappella" )
His task in life “wellordered music in honor of God”

George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)
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More secular than Bach
Started by writing operas
Often wrote huge, unusual-sounding pieces
Best known work is religious — Messiah

CLASSICAL ERA OF MUSIC 1750-1830
• FULL ORCHESTRATION
• SYMPHONIES
• PIANO
• THEMATIC
DEVELOPMENT
• HAYDN, MOZART
• BEETHOVEN

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
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Ushers in Classical
Era of music
Music center shifts from
Italy to Germany and
Austrian Empire
Prolific —composed over 100 symphonies

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
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Child prodigy: first concerto at 6, first opera at age 12
Dies debt-ridden pauper at age 35
Widely considered the greatest classical composer —embodies grace, precision and emotion
Wrote three of the world’s greatest operas: Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, and Don Giovanni