ART, LITERATURE, MUSIC, AND IMPACT
ROLE OF SALONS –
SPREADING IDEAS
 Wealthy women of Paris
hosted social gatherings
known as salons
 Philosophers, writers,
artists, scientists
gathered to share ideas
 Madame Geoffrin –
most influential salon
hostess
ART AND LITERATURE
 Enlightenment is reflected in the arts – music,
literature, painting, and architecture
 BAROQUE– grand and ornate; gold everywhere!
 NEOCLASSICAL– simple and elegant; back to
Ancient Greece & Roman times
 Development of novels (i.e. Cervantes’ Don
Quixote)
COMPOSERS
 Johann Sebastian Bach: Baroque composer
Best of Bach
 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Classical composer
Best of Mozart
 Ludwig van Beethoven: Classical composer
Best of Beethoven
ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM
 The manner of political reform – monarchs who
embraced new ideas& reforms
 Frederick the Great of Prussia
 Catherine the Great of Russia
 Joseph II of Austria
IMPACT OF ENLIGHTENMENT
 Ideas led to people challenging long held
ideas about society
 Political philosophies inspired American
and French revolutions in the 1800s
 Ideas incorporated in T. Jefferson’s
Declaration of Independence, Constitution,
& Bill of Rights