The document discusses the rise of Neoclassicism during the Enlightenment period. Neoclassicism rejected the ornate styles that came before it in favor of a simpler, more rational style inspired by classical antiquity. Artists like Jacques-Louis David created works depicting stories of virtue from Greek and Roman history that promoted Enlightenment ideals of patriotism and civic duty. While Neoclassicism intended to educate through moral examples, the French Revolution it helped inspire descended into violence and terror rather than the noble republic envisioned in its classical references.

1. Neoclassicism

2. The
Enlightenment
Reason
replaces
Religion
Separation of
Church and State
Rejection of
divine rights
of kings
The natural rights
of man
The Enlightenment ushered in a new set of values that marked a dramatic break with th
past

3. And it proposed a new role for art

4. Old World
State
propaganda
Win hearts and
minds
New
World
Teach moral
virtue
Inspire
patriotism and
civic
engagement
Instead of providing propaganda for church and king, Enlightenment thinkers
believed that art should educate the citizens of a new free society

5. Antonio Canova, Perseus with
the Head of Medusa, c. 1800
Vatican Museums
The style of art that most successfully fulfilled the Enlightenment demand for an art
of edifying moral virtue was Neoclassicism

6. Donatello, David, c. 1440-1460
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1484-1486
Michelangelo, David, 1501-1504
Classical art had already been “rediscovered” in the Renaissance

7. Jean Nocret, The Royal Family dressed as gods and goddesses
Versailles
1670
But over the centuries it had become ornate, exuberant, and theatrical – as seen in
this painting from Versailles, depicting Louis XIV and his family dressed up as gods
and goddesses

8. Francois Boucher
Toilette of Venus, 1751
Metropolitan Museum of Art
And in Rococo art it had become frilly, precious, and frivolous

9. Lapith and Centaur,
Parthenon Metope
British Museum
Back to basics return to “origins”
So Neoclassicism was a kind of “back to basics” return to origins

10. Diadoumenos, attributed
to Polykleitos, Roman
copy; Met Museum
Enlightenment thinkers admired Classical art for its clarity, simplicity, nobility, and
lack of fussy ornament

11. Jacques Louis David, Portrait of Madame Raymond de Verninac, 1798-1799
Louvre
Web Gallery of ArtVigee Le Brun, Marie Antoinette, 1783
We can see the change in fashion as well – before the revolution, aristocratic
fashion was excessively opulent – but after the revolution, women abandoned their
corsets, powdered wigs, and frou-frou silks and lace in favor of a much more
simplified style inspired by women’s fashions in ancient Greece

12. Jacques Louis David, Portrait of Madame Raymond de Verninac, 1798-1799
Louvre
Web Gallery of ArtVigee Le Brun, Marie Antoinette, 1783
Neoclassicism in art represented a similar “stripping away” of superfluous
ornament to get at more simple and clear truths

13. The clarity, simplicity, and nobility of Classical art provided a welcome alternative
to the decadence of aristocratic culture, and to the frivolous and self-indulgent
themes of the Rococo

14. The rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum did much to stimulate renewed
interest in Classical art, as did the “Grand Tour” which became an obligatory part of
every gentleman’s education

15. Nathaniel Dance, James Grant of Grant, John Myton, the Hon. Thomas Robinson, and Thomas Wynne, c. 1760
Yale Center for British Art
Wealthy aristocrats arranged guided tours to ancient archaeological sites, and
amassed large collections of antique art for private study and enjoyment

16. Giovanni Panini, Ancient Rome, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
Giovanni Panini’s Ancient Rome is a perfect example of the 18th century
fascination with classical architecture and sculpture

17. It portrays a grand gallery with pictures of famous Roman monuments, including
the The Colisseum, the Basilica of Constantine, and the Pantheon

18. Giovanni Panini, Ancient Rome, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
This fascination with the Classical past was more than just a matter of fashion
or taste

19. As the birthplace of democracy, ancient Greece and Rome seemed to represent a
time of innocence – before the corruption of the modern world – and so it could
offer modern audience valuable lessons about virtue and nobility

20. Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to her children as her treasures, 1785
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
This painting by Angelica Kauffmann is a perfect example of the kind of “lesson in
virtue” that could be gained from stories from the Classical past

21. Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to her children as her treasures, 1785
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The painting depicts Cornelia, the mother of the Graachi (the two boys seen on the
left), who later became leaders of a popular reform movement in Rome

22. Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to her children as her treasures, 1785
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
A family friend has dropped by to show off her jewelry, and asks Cornelia to show
hers

23. Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to her children as her treasures, 1785
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Cornelia responds by pointing to her sons as “her treasures”

24. Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to her children as her treasures, 1785
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Cornelia’s motherly virtues made her the kind of “exemplar of virtue” that
Enlightenment thinkers demanded as an alternative to the frivolous themes of
Rococo art

25. Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to her children as her treasures, 1785
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The simplicity, clarity, and balance of the Neoclassical style was also a welcome
alternative to the sensual style of the Rococo

26. Jacques Louis David, Self
Portrait, 1794
Louvre
Web Gallery of Art
The leading representative of the Neoclassical style in France was Jacques Louis
David

27. Jacques Louis David, Self
Portrait, 1794
Louvre
Web Gallery of Art
After studying in Rome, he developed a radically simplified and austere style based
on his study of ancient classical art

28. David argued that art should show themes of “heroism and civic virtue” that will “electrify
the soul” of the people and “plant the seeds of glory and devotion to the fatherland.”

29. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
His paintings focused on the noble deeds of great men from classical history, presented
as exemplars of virtue

30. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
Socrates is a perfect example, because he was literally a “man of ideas,” who heroically
stood up for his beliefs

31. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
Socrates had been a vocal critic of the Athenian government, and he was imprisoned for
“refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state” and “corrupting the youth”

32. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
He was given the choice of renouncing his views or death, and he chose the latter

33. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
In this scene, David shows the philosopher in his prison cell, surrounded by his pupils

34. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
Shackled to his bed, he continues to expound his views (literally, teaching to the end!),
as he reaches for the fatal hemlock juice

35. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
His pupils surround him and react with a range of emotions: only Plato, seated stoically
at the foot of the bed, seems to have accepted his fate

36. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
Exhibited at the Salon of 1787 (on the eve of the French Revolution), David’s painting
was widely interpreted as a protest against the corruptions of the French state (which
had taken many political prisoners to stifle mounting reform efforts)

37. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
The picture was a clarion call to the French nation to stand up for its ideals, and to fight
for what it believed to be right

38. Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum
If the goal of Catholic Baroque was to reaffirm religious faith, David’s painting
represents a new “secular” religion that values reason and freedom of thought
above all else

39. David’s most famous painting is The Oath of the Horatii, which was painted in 1785, on
the eve of the French Revolution

40. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
Set in ancient Rome, the story comes from a Roman legend first recounted by the
Roman historian Livy involving a conflict between the Romans and a rival group from
nearby Alba

41. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
Rather than engage in a full-scale war, each side decided to send three representatives
to settle the dispute: the Horatii brothers representing Rome, and the Curatii brothers
representing Alba

42. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
The older man in the center is Horace, and his sons (the Horatii) are swearing an
oath on their father’s sword to defend Rome – but the story is more complicated
than it seems

43. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
The women of the household are weeping because one of the men’s wives is a
sister to one of the three men who will fight to defend Alba (the Curatii); and one of
the Horatii sisters is betrothed to one of the Curatii brothers

44. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
So no matter what the outcome is, these women will suffer the loss of a loved one – but
this is not David’s focus

45. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
Instead, the picture extols the men’s unflinching determination to fight for their
nation, creating a dramatic contrast between the men who take determined action,
and the women who weep passively

46. P.A. Martini, The Salon of 1785
Image source: http://www.a-website.org/mnemosyne/arrange/pages/1pting_salon.html
David’s painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1785, where its message of courage,
patriotism, and self-sacrifice became a rallying cry from the coming revolution

47. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
Like the Horatii brothers, the citizens of France were called upon to renounce their
personal emotions in pursuit of a higher ideal of democracy and freedom

48. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
What makes this painting “Neoclassical”?

49. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
Subject matter: the story is from Classical history

50. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
Message: it is intended to teach moral virtue -- “patriotism,” “courage,” and “self-
sacrifice”

51. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
Style: Neoclassicism is characterized above all by simplicity and clarity

52. Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Swing, 1766
Wallace Collection, London
Peter Paul Rubens, Elevation of
the Cross, Chrch of St. Walburga,
Antwerp, 1610
Neoclassicism rejected both the overblown theatricality of the Baroque, as well as the
sensuality and frivolousness of the Rococo

53. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
David has stripped away all of that complexity in his “back to basics” return to the
simplify of Classical art

54. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
The lighting is even and clear, instead of mysterious and dramatic

55. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre
The frieze-like arrangement of the picture recalls Classical relief sculptures, and
provides a simple and easy-to-read contrast to the strong diagonal compositions of the
Baroque

56. The linear treatment of the drapery also recalls Classical sources

57. This was seen as a welcome corrective to the soft, sensuous, and painterly style of the
Rococo

58. Jacques Louis David, Oath in the Tennis Court, 1790-94
When the French Revolution came, David was an ardent supporter, and he became
involved with the radical Jacobin party as Minister of Arts

59. Jacques Louis David, Oath in the Tennis Court, 1790-94
This drawing represents a pivotal moment in the vents leading up to the revolution --
when the Third Estate gathered in a tennis court at Versailles and vowed to remain
until a new constitution was drafted

60. Jacques Louis David, Oath in the Tennis Court, 1790-94
It was like a modern Oath of the Horatii, where real people in modern times were
behaving with the valor and courage of the Romans so admired by progressive
thinkers in the 18th century

61. Jacques Louis David, Oath in the Tennis Court, 1790-94
But real history is lot messier than stories from the past, where the uglier details
have been softened by time and distance

62. Execution under the Reignof Terror, 1793-94
Coloured engraving
The revolution did not result in a glorious Republic governed by noble men modeled
on heroic and self-less Romans; instead it led to the reign of terror, where
thousands were executed by angry mobs

63. Jacques Louis
David, Death of
Marat, 1793
David would commemorate one of the leading instigators of the
reign of terror, in his painting of the death of Jean Paul Marat –
which is the subject of the next presentation