Chapter 29 Neoclassicism
1750-1815
Key Ideas
• The Enlightenment brought about a
rejection of royal and aristocratic authority.
The Rococo style was replaced by the
Neoclassical, which was perceived as
more democratic.
• Neoclassicism was inspired by the
unearthing of the ruins at Pompeii and the
books of art theorist Johann Winckelmann
Key Ideas
• Even if works of art depict current events
or contemporary portraits, there are
frequently classical allusions
• 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
carve from bronze than marble.
Historical background
• Industrial Revolution, populations boomed, mass
production, technological innovations, medical
science advancements.
• Improvement of the quality of life offset by a new
slavery to mechanized work and inhumane
working conditions.
• The Enlightenment: intellectual transformation
based on logic and observation.
Historical background
• Denis Diderot (1713-1784) 52 volume French
encyclopedia in 1764; Samuel Johnson (17091784), first English dictionary 1755; JeanJacques Rousseau, legitimate government was
an expression of the general will, 1762 Social
Contract.
• Political ferment, late eighteenth century
transformational moment in European politics.
David advocated the sweeping social changes
that the French Revolution espoused.
Patronage and Artistic Life
• Rome was the place to see the past. Rome was
custodian of inspiration and tradition, not of
progress.
• Discovery of buried city of Pompeii
• Pompeii inspired art theorist Johann
Winkelmann (1717-1768) to publish The History
of Ancient Art in 1764. Considered the first art
history book
• Winkelmann criticized Rococo as decadent,
celebrated the ancients for purity of form and
crispness of execution.
Patronage and Artistic Life
• Art academies began to spring up in
Europe and the United States. Artists
trained in the proper classical traditionsent to Rome to study works firsthand
• Grand tour of Italy to complete education.
Under guidance of a connoisseur, Naples,
Florence, Venice, and Rome. Collected
antiquities or buy contemporary art.
Innovations of Neoclassical
Architecture
• Cast Iron works
• Classicists saw use of exposed iron as an
anathema
• Gradually architects accepted iron for its
strength and economy, used as substructure or
behind walls of stone or wood.
• Coalbrookdale, England, constructed first iron
bridge, proved to be a structural and aesthetic
success.
• Nineteenth century iron transformed the history
of architecture
Characteristics of Neoclassical
Architecture
• Neoclassical buildings were a clever
revision of classical principles into a
modern framework.
• Outward trappings of Roman works,
tailored to living in the eighteenth century.
• From Andrea Palladio’s written books and
Inigo Jones, Neoclassicists learned about
symmetry, balance, composition and
order.
Characteristics of Neoclassical
Architecture
• Most great houses of the period had
Greek and Roman columns with
appropriate capitals.
• Pediments crowned entrances and topped
windows. Domes graced the center of
homes, setting off gallery space.
• Interior layout almost perfectly
symmetrical, rooms mirroring one another
on either side of the building.
Characteristics of Neoclassical
Architecture
• Each room decorated with a different
theme, inspired by the ancient world,
others dominant color wallpaper or paint.
• Homes, like the White House, could have
a green room or a red room. Others as
designed by Robert Adam, had an
Etruscan room or a classical entrance
gallery
Richard Boyle and William Kent, Chiswick House, 1725,
London, England
Villa Rotunda, Palladio
•Boyle: amateur architect
•Kent: interior and garden designer
•Influence of Palladio’s Villa Rotunda; Palladio’s statue is placed
at far left; Palladian motif of the decorated halls on the balustrade
of the main floor; Palladian low dome; main floor raised over
exposed basement level; pediments over windows and doors.
•Jones statue at far right (father of English classicism)
•Symmetrical balance of façade, even chimneys were balanced
•Un-Italian are the large semicircular dome windows and oblesklike chimneys
•Rusticated bottom floor influenced by Italian Renaissance buildings
•Clear, open, white stone surface above, with no ornamentation
•Baroque tradition lingers in the double staircase that changes
view as it ascends
•Domed central room is an art gallery containing busts and
paintings
•Not a real residence, but a pavilion where Boyle would entertain
guests and show his art collection
•Richly decorated rooms of brilliant color
Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, 1770-1806, Charlottesville,
Virginia
•“Little mountain” in Italian
•Chief building on Jefferson’s plantation
•Symmetrical interior design
•Brick building, stucco applied to trim to give the effect of
marble
•Tall French doors and windows to allow circulation in hot
Virginia summers
•Appears to be a one-story building with a dome, but the
balustrade hides the second floor
•Inspired by Palladio and Roman ruins in France
•Octagonal dome
•Jefferson obsessed with saving space in his home; very
narrow spiral staircases, beds in alcoves or in walls
between rooms
John Wood the Younger, The Royal Crescent, 1769-1775,
Bath, England
•Bath is a summer
resort where the
wealthy can take in the
health benefits of the
naturally warmed
waters
•Thirty residences in an elliptical sweep
•Grand Ionic columns rhythmically
framing windows
•Wood’s Roman design
is in keeping with Bath
being an ancient
Roman City
•Balustraded cornice
unifies composition
•Typically English
chimney pots placed a
rhythmically spaced
points along the roofline
•English Characteristic
in great length of the
crescent
•Public rooms on the second floor of the
houses to provide a majestic view down the
hill below
Abraham Darby and Thomas Pritchard,
Coalbrookdale Bridge, 1776-1779, England
•First substantial structure made of iron
•Five parallel metal Roman arches
•Cast iron is brittle, but the clever
design has made the bridge stand
effectively
Innovations of Neoclassical
painting
• Cloaked their modern sitters in ancient
garb, made faces appear more antique
• Canova’s sculpture ( now destroyed ) of
George Washington had him dressed as a
Roman general
Innovations of Neoclassical
painting
• Benjamin West was the first (in 1771) to
take epic contemporary events and wrap
the figures in modern rather than ancient
drapery with The Death of General Wolfe
Characteristics of Neoclassical
Painting
• Great epics of antiquity spoke
meaningfully to eighteenth-century
painters
• Modern context in mind with myths and
biblical scenes
• Horattii: implication of self-sacrifice for the
greater good. Exemplum virtitus
Characteristics of Neoclassical
Painting
• Subtexts inviting the viewer to take measure of a
person, a situation, and a state of affairs.
Copley’s Samuel Adams: understanding of
Adams’s likeness and character as it is a
statement about the Boston Massacre.
• Symmetrical, with linear perspective leading the
eye into a carefully constructed background
• Exemplary works were marked by invisible
brushwork and clarity of detail
John Singleton
Copley, Samuel
Adams, 1770-1772,
oil on canvas,
Museum of Fine Arts
Boston
•Portrait contains a
forceful and direct
gaze, engaging the
spectator in a
confrontation; focus on
the head
•Figure up close to the
picture plane
•Rich colors,
concentration on
reflective surfaces
•Meticulous
handling of paint
•Adams pointing in
an animated way at
the Massachusetts
charter; confronting
the Massachusetts
governor over the
Boston Massacre;
powerful gesture
Benjamin West, Death of General Wolfe, 1771,oil on canvas,
National Gallery, Ottawa
•Scene
depicting the
Battle of
Quebec in
1759
Cannon put in place in center distance at midmorning; battle at left with Quebec cathedral
breaking through the smoke
•An attempt to
show the
entire battle in
the
background of
the painting;
English boats
unloading their
cannon in
early morning
at extreme
right;
• Very short
battle,
French in
disarray
and
running
from the
battle
scene
•Wolfe died of sniper shots to the wrist, groin,
and side
•Wolfe died nearly alone, but in the painting he is
surrounded by friends and admirers
• French
colors
captured at
left and
brought to
General
Wolfe
before his
death
•Compositional arrangement in thirds reflects
triptych, like compositions of the Renaissance;
triangular units reflect High Renaissance
paintings
•Wolfe’s
unflattering
looks, his cleft
chin, his large
protruding
eyes, his
small mouth,
and his
upturned
nose are
minimized in
his upturned
heavenward
glance.
•Religious
associations of
the victory;
Protestantism
over
Catholicism
•Wolfe bathed
in the pool of
light; he is in
the pose of
Christ being
taken from the
cross.
•Wolfe’s pose also cf. Dying Gaul and
Michelangelo’s Pieta’
•Native
American sets
the scene as the
Americas and
contemplates
the
consequences
of Wolfe’s
victory
•Great innovation in portraying Wolfe in contemporary
costume rather than Roman robes.
Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to Her Children
as Treasures, 1785, oil on canvas, Virginia Museum of
Fine Arts, Richmond
•Expemplum
virtutis
•Story and setting
is Roman, with
figures before an
Italianate
background
•Cornelia, a noble
woman, is shown
jewelry by a
visitor who asks
to see Cornelia’s
jewels
•Cornelia responds that her children are her jewels and presents her sons;
interestingly, her daughter is not presented in this light
•A truly noble woman places her children above material possessions
Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784,
oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris
•Exemplum
virtutis
•Story of three
roman brothers
(the Horatii) who
do battle with
three other
brothers (the
Curiatii) from a
nearby city; they
pledge their
fidelity to their
father and Rome.
•One of the three women on right is a Horatii engaged to one of
the Curiatii brothers; another woman is the sister of the Curiatii
brothers.
•Forms are vigorous, powerful, animated, emphatic
•Gestures are
sweeping and
unified
•Figures pushed
to the foreground
•Neoclassical
drapery and
tripartite
composition
•Not Neoclassical in its Caravaggio-like lighting and un-Roman
architectural capitals
•Painted under royal patronage
Jacques-Louis David,
Death of Marat, 1793, oil
on canvas, Royal
Museum, Brussels
•Marat was a leader of
the French Revolution,
who was stabbed in his
bathtub by Charlotte
Corday, a more moderate
revolutionary who
denounced the killing of
the king.
•Suffering from skin
cancer, Marat took baths
for hours to relieve the
itch; he is not shown with
the effects of cancer
except for his turban
soaked in vinegar,
thought to have been a
cure
•His desk is set up in the
tube so he can do work;
killed at the moment of
issuing a letter of
condolences
•Killed with a butcher knife
with blood still on the
handle.
•Pose is the Descent
from the Cross,
Michelangelo’s Pieta’
•Tombstonelike desk
inscribed “To Marat,
David, Year 2”
reflecting the French
Revolution’s
reordering of the
calendar
•Caravaggio-like
lighting
Innovations of Neoclassical
Sculpture
• Prior to Industrial Revolution bronze was expensive for
sculpture, mass production enabled price to fall, while
causing marble to become extremely expensive (hand
mined).
• Because ancients used marble it was still the material of
choice for sculpture, unpainted as was thought the
ancients did not paint their sculpture.
• Pompeii artifacts influenced sculptors to work in classical
mediums.
• Donation of the Parthenon pediment marbles (Elgin
Marbles) to the British Museum influenced sculptors
Characteristics of Neoclassical
Sculpture
• Deeply affected by classicism, was mindful
of the realistic likeness of the sitter
• Also included figures posed realistically
with contemporary drapery as well and
ancient styles
• Classical allusions were secondary, still
sculpture was carved from white marble
with no paint added, neoclassicists felt
ancients worked only in white marble.
Antonio Canova,
Cupid and
Psyche, 17871793, marble,
Louvre, Paris
•Smooth, polished
surfaces
•Classical nudes
preferred, sensuality
of the flesh
•Exploited marble’s
sensitivity to
chiaroscuro
•Said to have been
inspired by a painting
found at the Roman
ruins of Herculaneum;
Psyche has fainted after
opening the vase that
Venus commanded her
not to open; revived by
Cupid’s kiss.
•Adept handling of
multiple views and
negative space
Antonio Canova, Pauline Borghese as Venus, 1808,
marble, Galleria Borghese, Rome
•Napoleon’s
sister posed as
Venus,
possessing an
apple, Venus’s
attribute
•Pauline noted
for her
licentiousness
•Very few people allowed to see the sculpture
•Very risque’ for the wife of the ruler of Rome
•Work does not
intend to
seduce; pose
not realistic
Test
1. The Death of General Wolfe was a
groundbreaking work because
A. It was painted about a contemporary
event
B. The figures were dressed in modern
clothes
C. The figures were grouped symmetrically
D. The scene is historically accurate
2. The Coalbrookdale Bridge is important in
the history of architecture because it
A. Is made of iron
B. Uses a suspension system
C. Is based on Roman models
D. Spans a wide river
3. Even though Jacques-Louis David is
considered a Neoclassical artists, his
artwork appears to be at least partly
inspired by nonclassical artists like
A. Titian
B. El Greco
C. Caravaggio
D. Jean-Antoine Watteau
4. Neoclassical architects were strongly
influenced by the work of
A. Christopher Wren
B. Andrea Palladio
C. Francesco Borromini
D. Antonio Canova
5. The Royal Crescent was built so that its
residents could take advantage of
A. a Nearby villa
B. A spa
C. A palace
D. Living in a suburban environment
6. Neoclassicists assumed that
A.
B.
C.
D.
The ancients preferred to work in bronze
That ancient sculpture was painted
Pompeii was the center of ancient art
Sculpting in marble was continuing the
tradition set in the ancient world
7. For Europeans, going on the grand tour
meant visiting
A.
B.
C.
D.
Italy
Austria
Spain
Greece
8. Johann Winckelmann is important to art
history because he
A. Unearthed the ruins at Pompeii
B. Assisted in the making of cast iron
C. Instructed Jefferson on how to build
Monticello
D. Wrote the first art history book
9. Antonio Canova’s sculptures
A.
B.
C.
D.
Are rough to the touch
Exploit the sensuality of the flesh
Were never exhibited in his lifetime
Were carved by assistants
10. In Jacques-Louis David’s Death of
Marat it is assumed that the viewer is
aware of Michelangelo’s
A. David
B. Creation of Adam
C. Moses
D. Pieta’
Short Essay
The painting displayed was
painted by Jacques-Louis David
in the eighteenth century. What
is the historical context of this
work? How and why does
David modify the historical
reality behind the work to create
a great work of art? Use one
side of a sheet of lined paper to
write your essay.