ROMANTIC AND CLASSIC ART

• Artists can appeal to our emotions

by analogies, buried memories or

sensuous use of colour

• Others satisfy our need for order

and permanence by creating

structures or compositions that

seem complete and permanent in

themselves

• These two traditions existed

together in harmony

• Sometimes could be applied to the

same painter

• In the 18th there appeared a division

more definite than anything that

had preceded it.

• The two opposing points of view

were reflected most clearly in the

work of two influential Scholars.

Winckelmann, 1755

Reflections on the Imitation

of Greek Art becomes the

standard text for Classicsm

Burke

philosopher/statesman 1756.

Inquiry into the origins of

the sublime standard text on

Romanticism

1. What was the essential

difference in the two

philosophies?

1. Classicism stated in

Winckelmann‘s words

that ‗art should aim at

noble simplicity and

calm grandeur.

2. The Romantics said

that art should excite

the emotions, in

particular the emotion

of fear, which was the

source of the sublime.

3. Romanticism proposed

a new set of human

values. 4. Anton Raphael Mengs. Self-

Portrait. c. 1775.

• 1755 Mengs a disciple and

personal friend of J. J.

Winckelmann

• Shares Winckelmann‘s

obsession with classical

antiquity

Anton Raphael Mengs – JJ Winckelmann

• Anton Raphael Mengs was born in 1728 in Aussig, Bohemia, into an artistic

family of German origin.

• About 1755, he became a close friend of the German archaeologist and art

critic J. J. Winckelmann, the author of the famous A History of Ancient

Art (1764).

• Mengs came to share Winckelmann's enthusiasm for classical antiquity, and

worked to establish the dominance of Neoclassical painting.

• At the same time the influence of the Roman Baroque remained strong,

particularly in his religious paintings.

• In Italy Mengs was

commissioned to paint a

series of portraits for the

King of Naples Charles VII,

• In October 1759, Charles VII

inherited the Spanish Crown

as Charles III and, as his

court painter, Mengs spent

several years (1761-1769) in

Madrid, painting decorations

in the Royal Palace and

portraying the important

persons belonging to the

court.

• From 1769 to 1772, Mengs

worked in Rome, decorating

the Camera dei Papiri in the

Vatican, and he returned to

Spain from 1773 to 1777. • Charles III. 1761.

Goya - Charles III 1780

1. Striking difference to Mengs

Classical approach.

2. Mengs idealised likeness calls

attention to his station: Jewel

encrusted Maltese cross stately

posture and suit of armor call

attention to his stature as King.

3. Goya more informal contains

passing reference to Kings rank –

silk sash and medals on his chest.

4.

The personality is evident he is

shown as a huntsman with musket

and hound and rakish tricorn hat.

5.

These with his relaxed posture

suggest a warm and charming

personality.

• Mengs was widely regarded in his

day as Europe's greatest living

painter.

• Although he died at the early age

of fifty (1779) he had a profound

influence not only on his native

contemporaries but also on

Roman, French and Spanish

artists.

• Mengs's treatise Reflections on

Beauty and Taste in

Painting (1762) was also

influential in his day

• Charles IV as Prince

1. Describe Meng‘s ‗Parnassus‘ Is it pure? Why? What does ‗vapid dream of

connoisseurs and collectors‘ mean?

1. Made up of all the fashionable clichés of the time

2. Fundamentally frivolous

3. Is not a reflection of life, but rather fulfils the expectations of the

collectors and connoisseurs of the time.

1. Jacques-Louis David (30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825)

2. 1775 won the diploma of the Paris Academy and was sent to Rome (attempted to win

the Prix de Rome, an art scholarship to the French Academy in Rome, five times.)

3. Arrived classical revival was in full flight

4. Excavations of Pompey were not 20 years old

5. David affected by the obsession with everything Roman

6. Returned to Paris determined to revive in painting the virtues of the ancients

• David, ambitious and

excitable, competed

in 1771 for the Prix de

Rome, which went to

Suvée.

• In 1772 David lost out

to Jombert and Le

Monnier, and he

nearly killed himself

in despair.

• In 1773, his Seneca

was passed over in

favour of Peyron's

more Poussin-like

version.

• David finally won the

prize in 1774 with

Antiochus and

Stratonica,

The Ruins of Pompey

• By the 1st century AD, Pompeii was/is one of a

number of towns located around the base of

the volcano, Mount Vesuvius.

• The area had a substantial population which

grew prosperous from the region's renowned

agricultural fertility.

• Many of Pompeii's neighbouring communities,

most famously Herculaneum, also suffered

damage or destruction during the 79 eruption

• Herculaneum was

properly rediscovered in

1738 by workmen

digging for the

foundations of a summer

palace for the King of

Naples, Charles of

Bourbon.

• Pompeii was

rediscovered in

excavations in 1748.

• These towns have since

been excavated to reveal

many intact buildings

and wall paintings.

A depiction of the eruption which buried

Pompeii (from BBC's Pompeii: The Last

Day). The depiction of the Temple of

Jupiter and the Temple of Apollo are

nonetheless inaccurate as these temples

had been destroyed in the earthquake 17

years earlier.

How would you describe the Style of

David, in what way was he a rebel?

1. He was a Classicist but in revolt

against the style of Mengs

2. His Classicism was more nourished

by contact with nature and

3. A passionate involvement with

everyday life.

4. In politics as well as art he was a

rebel

5. Early painting, count Potocki on

horseback still in the style of 18th C

painting

6. Bravura piece of the ancient regime

The Portrait of Count Stanislas Potocki is a 1780

equestrian portrait of the Polish patron, politician and

writer Stanisław Kostka Potocki

It was painted in Rome when the artist and subject met

during David's stay at the Villa Medici after winning the

first prize for painting in the Prix de Rome.

David chose a subject from ancient

history to illustrate his Roman ideals

• The story of Belisarius was that of a

loyal and successful general in the

service of the Byzantine emperor

Justinian.

• He had won major victories against

the Vandals, Goths and Bulgarians,

but he then became implicated in

political intrigues, was accused of

treason and disgraced.

• He became an outcast and was even

reduced to begging; one version of

the story also said that his eyes were

put out.

Sketch for the painting ―Le Belleser‖ (Belisarius)

Baron François Gérard - c. 1805-6

What was David‘s first

serious attempt in

painting? • Belisarius begging for alms –

the aged general recognised

by one of his soldiers.

• What is characteristic of his

style in this picture, what is

his trademark?

• It is Davidian it its large

gestures

• A trademark symbol is the

open palm gesture

• What was his concern

about this painting? What

did he really want?

• It was much admired but

David was unhappy about it.

• He felt it was too traditional

and not the kind of classicism

the age demanded

• Too much a connoisseurs

picture

• He wanted a classicism that

was revolutionary and appeal

to the people

• David was allowed to stay at the French

Academy in Rome for an extra year, but

after 5 years in Rome, he returned to

Paris.

• made a member of the Royal Academy,

sent the Academy two paintings, and both

were included in the Salon of 1781, a high

honour.

• After the Salon, the King granted David

lodging in the Louvre, an ancient and

much desired privilege of great artists.

• When the contractor of the King's

buildings, M. Pécoul, was arranging with

David, he asked the artist to marry his

daughter, Marguerite Charlotte.

• This marriage brought him money and

eventually four children. David had his

own pupils, about 40 to 50, and was

commissioned by the government to paint

"Horace defended by his Father", but he

soon decided, "Only in Rome can I paint

Romans."

• His father-in-law provided the money he

needed for the trip, and David headed for

Rome with his wife and three of his

students, one of whom, Jean-Germain

Drouais (1763–1788), was the Prix de

Rome winner of that year.

Jacques-Louis David‘s facial abnormalities

were traditionally reported to be a

consequence of a deep facial sword

wound after a fencing incident. 1. These left him with a noticeable asymmetry

during facial expression and resulted in his

difficulty in eating or speaking (he could not

pronounce some consonants such as the

letter 'r').

2. A sword scar wound on the left side of his

face is present in his self-portrait and

sculptures and corresponds to some of the

buccal branches of the facial nerve. An

injury to this nerve and its branches are

likely to have resulted in the difficulties with

his left facial movement.

3. Furthermore, as a result of this injury, he

suffered from a growth on his face that

biographers and art historians have defined

as a ―benign tumour‖

4. Witty banter and public speaking ability

were key aspects of the social culture of

18th century France. In light of these

cultural keystones, David's tumor would

have been a heavy obstacle in his social

life.David was sometimes referred to as

"David of the Tumor"

Many would feel it was a good example of what

they would expect from a work of art

A perfect illustration to social History

What mood does the painting illustrate

1. New mood of moral earnestness

2. Stoicism that preceded the French revolution

How has he done this?

1. Combination of realism and archaic rigour in

the style

2. A grave acceptance of fact which separates it

from the vapid orthodox classicism of Mengs

How is it ‗perfectly classical?

1. A frontal composition

2. Concentrated action

3. Elevated expressions and accurate

accessories.

What would have shocked the purists?

1. His particularisation of the open hand

2. The stark Doric columns

3. These were considered outside the canon of

classical elegance

4. But were chosen deliberately as a symbol of

Roman virtue and primitive strength.

1. What does David‘s try to demonstrate with the depiction of the men on the

right and the women on the left?

2. The soft lines of the woman on the right soft sensuous incapable of action.

3. The men vigorous and erect and strong.

1. Where did David get the idea for the poses of the men on the left from?

I. Fuseli‘s Witches from Macbeth

2. How would David owe a debt to Caravaggio? Why is that surprising?

I. Caravaggio the arch Romantic should not have influenced him

II. But he was revolutionary in his thinking and the realism of Caravaggio would have

been a contributing factor

III. The same use of the open hand

What French painter could have influenced David?

The Testament of Eudamidas by Poussin 1643 Parallel composition to weeping

women on the right.

1. What does ‗jolie matiere‘ mean in this

context?

1. There is a feeling for the quality of

the paint

2. Inherited from his pre-revolutionary

days as an indulgence of which he

was not entirely willing to forgo.

3. Habitually used in his portraits

2. Was the public affected by this

painting?

1. What other work could have

affected people’s opinions at this

time?

2. His paintings had the public

importance of a manifesto

3. The most successful of painters

who dream that their work can

have an effect on the lives and

beliefs of the people who view

them.

4. This was a period in time when

paintings did indeed have an effect

on public opinion

The marriage of Figaro 1. Not written for fun – but

revolutionary and a challenge to

the existing social order. 2. From 1780 – 1790 every play

and ballet was interpreted

politically.

David – The death of Socrates 1787

The Death of Socrates is considered the least Davidian of the paintings between

the Horatii and the revolution.

Why?

The History and ethos of Greece was considered less in harmony with his

character than those of Rome.

1. No doubt the subject was chosen as an example of sacrifice in service of the

people.

2. The motives for Socrates to swallow the Hemlock were too complex for a man

whose mind moved in the realm of action.

3. The picture is greatly composed but lacking in David‘s personality.

What is unappealing about the

picture of the Lictors bringing

back the bodies of Brutus‘s

sons?

• The Lictors bringing back to the

house of Brutus the bodies of

his two sons whom he had

condemned to death.

• Does not appeal to the

humanitarian ideals of today

but in the 18th C seemed the

very essence of patriotic zeal.

• calculated to inflame zeal

because it dealt with traitors

• As a peace of propaganda its

success was instant.

“Capitoline Brutus”. Bronze, Roman artwork of the

Republican Era, 4th-3rd centuries BC.

What is it that makes

this painting

successful? What is the

‗conflict‘ in Davids‘s

panting?

1. The conflict between

masculine and

feminine spirit

2. The figure of Brutus is

placed in a brooding

shadow

3. Contrasted with a

Niobe and a bacchante

4. David deeply

appreciative of feminity

5. Socrates and Leonidas

show less warmth and

personal interest

6. In his greatest works,

the drama of the

conflict between the

masculine and

feminine spirit.

Niobe

1. Niobe's entire family was killed after she angered

the God Leto and her 2 children Apollo and

Artemis

2. In shock, she cradled the youngest daughter in

her arms, then fled to Mt. Siplyon in Asia Minor.

There she turned to stone and from the rock

formed a stream (the Achelous) from her

ceaseless tears. She became the symbol of

eternal mourning.

3. A Bacchante in Roman mythology is a female

follower of Bacchus, god of wine and intoxication.

4. In Greek mythology, they are called Maenads.

Bacchantes are depicted as mad or wild women,

running through the forest, tearing animals to

pieces, and engaging in other acts of frenzied

intoxication.

The French Revolution

Many interrelated political and socioeconomic

factors contributed to the French Revolution.

To some extent, the old order succumbed to its

own rigidity in the face of a changing world.

Causes of the French Revolution include the following

A poor economic situation and an unmanageable national debt were

both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable

system of taxation, the massive spending of Louis XVI and the many wars

of the 18th century;

A resentment of royal absolutism;

An aspiration for liberty and republicanism;

A resentment of manorialism (seigneurialism) by peasants, wage-

earners, and, to a lesser extent, the bourgeoisie;

The rise of Enlightenment ideals;

Food scarcity in the months immediately before the revolution;

High unemployment and high bread prices resulting in the inability to

purchase food;

A resentment of noble privilege and dominance in public life by the

ambitious professional classes;

A resentment of religious intolerance;

The failure of Louis XVI to deal effectively with these problems.

By the 18th century, the French society was categorized into three Estates:

First, Second, and Third.

1. The First Estate consisted of the clergy

2. while the Second Estate comprised the nobility. These two classes were at

the top of the social hierarchy, and represented the more privileged groups.

3. The rest of the citizens, including peasants and bourgeoisies, were at the

bottom of the hierarchy.

1. The First Estate, which made up

about one percent of the total

population, was divided into two

groups: upper and lower.

2. The upper clergy included

archbishops, bishops, and

abbots.

3. Due to the power of the Roman

Catholic Church, these people

were exempt from

most taxes.

4. These men of high status and

privilege enjoyed luxurious lives

in their large palaces.

5. Meanwhile, the lower clergy,

which

included poorly-paid village

priests, had to suffer along with

the third class peasants

The cleryman and nobleman represent the

First and Second Estates. They are riding on

the back of an aged peasant, representing

the Third Estate.

1. The Second Estate was composed of

about 30,000 families who belonged

to the nobility duke and duchess,

count and countess, and marquis

and marquess.

2. Like the clergy, the nobility

represented another privileged

Estate.

They held the highest position in the

Church, the army, and the

government.

3. As well, they were exempt from

paying taxes of any kind.

4. They collected rent from the peasant

population who lived on their lands.

They also collected an extreme

amount of customary dues, as

well as dues on salt, cloth, bread,

and wine.

5. Most of the nobility was descendants

from the warriors, who helped the

King conquer France in the early

days.

6. They lived a life of lordly ease and

luxury and enjoyed great privileges. The Swing, painted in 1767 by Jean

Honoré Fragonard,

1. Totaling about 26 million

citizens, the Third Estate

consisted the bourgeoisie,

the peasantry, and the

urban artisans.

2. The bourgeoisie, which

included merchants,

manufacturers, bankers,

doctors, lawyers, and

intellectuals, were generally

prosperous and often as

wealthy as nobles.

3. However, wealth in the

‗ancien‘ regime did not

mean status or privilege.

4. Since ―success‖ in this time

period meant status and

privilege, wealth was

nothing by itself.

3. Although these people were the poorest, they were

responsible of taxes of all kinds.

4. They paid taxes to the King, taxes to the church, taxes and

dues to the lord of the manor, as well as numerous indirect

taxes on wine, salt, and bread. As described, most of the

peasants and laborers lived desperately poor lives.

5. This explains why the Third Estate led the revolution.

1. The rest of the

people of the Third

Estate, about 21

million, were largely

peasants and

commoners.

2. They own tiny farms

or lived and worked

on the farms that

belonged to the

nobles or the

Church

This meeting of the Three Estates is called the Estates-General.

King Louis refused to talk to the Third Estate and the Third Estate was forced to

wear black clothes. Then, the enraged representatives demanded that they are

called as the National Assembly from now on, because they represent almost

the whole nation.

1. In the beginning, David was a

supporter of the Revolution, a

friend of Robespierre and a

member of the Jacobin Club.

2. While others were leaving the

country for new and greater

opportunities, David stayed to

help destroy the old order

3. David swore the oath of the tennis

court and voted in the National

Convention for the Execution of

Louis XVI.

4. Much time spent in organising

fetes and processions

5. Designing uniforms

6. He spent time beginning a vast

picture of the ‗Oath of the Tennis

court‘

7. This was cut up so we only have

the preliminary drawings 8. Republican costume designed by David. Engraving

by Denon.

The Oath of the Tennis-Court, Versailles, 19 June 1789

What was the oath of the tennis court? i. The Oath of the Tennis-Court is considered the inaugural moment of the French Revolution.

ii. Before the revolution, political re-presentation was divided into three Estates,

iii. the first two being made up of the nobility and clergy, while 96 percent of the population was

represented under the Third Estate.

iv. In 1789 a stalemate developed over whether votes would be cast by Estate, thereby privileging

the nobility and clergy who were sure to vote together, or by head, which would give the Third

Estate the majority.

v. The Third Estate withdrew from the Estates General, declaring itself a new National Assembly.

Finding themselves locked out of their hall, they moved their meeting to an indoor tennis-court

where they swore an oath not to disband until a constitution had been drawn up for France.

Louis XV1 makes one

diplomatic blunder after

the other in an attempt to

retain power.

1. The nobles backing

him try to enforce

power

2. The representatives

of the third estate

refuse to budge to

intimidation

3. King Louis tries to

have them evicted by

using force

4. The Army refuses to

co-operate

5. Louis then calls upon

foreign army of

Germany and Swiss

• In June 1791, the King made an ill-fated attempt to

flee the country (flight to Varennes) • but was apprehended short of his goal on the Austrian

Belgian border and was forced to return under guard to

Paris.

• Louis XVI had made secret requests to Emperor Joseph II

of Austria, Marie-Antoinette's brother, to restore him to

his throne.

• This was granted and Austria threatened France if the

royal couple were hurt.

• In reaction, the people arrested the King. This led to an

Invasion after the trials and execution of Louis and Marie-

Antoinette.

• The Bourbon monarchy was destroyed by the French

people in 1792—it would be restored after Napoleon, then

destroyed again with the Restoration of the House of

Bonaparte.

• When the new National Convention held its first meeting,

David was sitting with his friends Jean-Paul Marat and

Robespierre.

• Robespierre‘s agents discovered a secret vault of the

king‘s proving he was trying to overthrow the

government, and demanded his execution.

• The National Convention held the trial of Louis XVI and

David voted for the death of the King, which caused his

wife, a royalist, to divorce him. • Maximilien Robespierre

Let them eat cake – Kirsten Dunst

"Let them eat cake" is the traditional but incorrect translation of the French phrase "qu'ils mangent de la

brioche." Brioche is actually a type of egg bread enriched with a large proportion of butter, rather than any

type of dessert or confection.

While commonly attributed to Marie Antoinette, the oldest source that anyone has found is The

Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

English biographer and author of Marie Antoinette The Journey, Antonia Fraser, states: "[Let them eat

cake] was said 100 years before her by Marie-Thérèse, the wife of Louis XIV. It was a callous and ignorant

statement and she, Marie Antoinette, was neither.

Marie Antoinette by

Marie Louise Élisabeth Vigée-

Lebrun; Vigée-Le Brun 1788

Alexandre Kucharsky

Marie

Antoinette's

execution on 16

October 1793

The Death of Marat • Has become one of the most

famous images of the French

Revolution.

• This work refers to the

assassination of radical journalist

Jean-Paul Marat, killed on the 13th

of July 1793 by Charlotte Corday, a

French Revolutionary figure from a

minor aristocratic family.

• Corday, who blamed Marat for the

September Massacres and feared

an all out civil war, claimed "I

killed one man to save 100,000.―

• Jean-Paul Marat (24 May 1743 – 13

July 1793), was a Swiss-born

French physician, philosopher,

political theorist and scientist best

known as a radical journalist and

politician from the French

Revolution.

• Marat often sought the comfort of

a cold bath to ease violent itching

due to a skin disease long said to

have been contracted years earlier,

when he was forced to hide from

his enemies in the Paris sewers. The Death of Marat (French: La Mort de Marat)1793

This painting demonstrates an important

distinction between Classicism and

Romantic Art. 1. His Classical training is vital in this

instance to produce an image that gives the

impression of absolute truth whilst at the

same time idealising it. For example, the

painting contains no sign of his skin

problems.

2. Classicism is presented here as ‗State Art‘

in which an image is part and parcel of a

state founded on order and subordination

in which the Art should be subordinated.

3. Romantic paintings

4. Classic attitudes towards subject matter is

that it ought to be clear and unequivocal –

supports the attitude of unquestioning

belief.

5. Totalitarianism needs images that are

I. Real enough to please the ignorant

II. Ideal enough to present a national

hero

III. Well designed to present a memorable

image

6. One sees how perfectly the Marat painting

fits the bill.

Trial and Execution

• At her trial, Corday testified that she

had carried out the assassination

alone, saying "I killed one man to

save 100,000." It was likely a

reference to Maximilien

Robespierre's words before the

execution of King Louis XVI.

• On 17 July 1793, four days after

Marat was killed, Corday was

executed under the guillotine and

her corpse was disposed of in the

Madeleine Cemetery.

• The assassination did not stop the

Jacobins or the Terror: Marat

became a martyr, and busts of him

replaced crucifixes and religious

statues that had been banished

under the new regime.

1. The Death of Marat has often

been compared to Michelangelo's

Pietà. Note the elongated arm

hanging down in both works.

2. David admired Caravaggio's works,

especially Entombment of Christ,

which mirrors The Death of Marat's

drama and light.

3. David sought to transfer the sacred

qualities long associated with the

monarchy and the Catholic Church to

the new French Republic.

4. He painted Marat, martyr of the

Revolution, in a style reminiscent of a

Christian martyr, with the face and

body bathed in a soft, glowing light.

5. As Christian Art had done it from its

beginning, David also played with

multileveled references to Classical

Art.

6. Suggestions that Paris could compete

with Rome as Capital and Mother City

of the Arts and the idea of forming a

kind of new Roman Republic appealed

to French Revolutionaries, who often

formed David's audience.

Widely admired during the Terror whose leaders ordered several copies

of the original work (copies made in

1793–1794 by David's pupils to serve

propaganda)

1. The Death of Marat lost its prestige

after Robespierre's overthrow and

execution.

2. At his request, it was returned to

David in 1795, who was in turn

arrested for his involvement in the

terror and his friendship with

Robespierre (he would have to wait

for Napoleon's rise to become

prominent in the arts once more).

3. From 1795 to David's death, the

painting languished in obscurity.

During David's exile in Belgium, it

was hidden, somewhere in France,

by Antoine Gros, David's dearest

pupil. 4. Marie Antoinette on her way to her execution –

sketched by David

David is possibly remembered

today as an great portraitist, an

accolade that he would probably not

relish

Seriziats painted immediately after

his release

In the Portrait of Antoine-Laurent

Lavoisier and his wife • The man and his wife are tied

together in an intimate pose. She

leans on his shoulder while he

pauses from his work to look up at

her.

• David casts them in a soft light, not

in the sharp contrast of Brutus or of

the Horatii.

• Lavoisier was a tax collector, as well

as a famous chemist.

• Though he spent some of his money

trying to clean up swamps and

eradicate malaria, he was

nonetheless sent to the guillotine

during the Reign of Terror as an

enemy of the people.

• David, then a powerful member of

the National Assembly, stood idly by

and watched.

The Intervention of the Sabine Women. 1799.

After David‘s wife visited him in jail, he conceived the idea of telling the

story of the Sabine Women. • The Sabine Women Enforcing Peace by Running between the Combatants, also called

The Intervention of the Sabine Women is said to have been painted to honor his wife,

with the theme being love prevailing over conflict.

• The painting was also seen as a plea for the people to reunite after the bloodshed of the

revolution

• The theme has changed from stoic patriotism to

• Conciliation effected by the tender emotions

• Unfortunately certain conventions interfered for example the heroes are depicted with

armour in the drawings but nude in the final which is the result of Winckelmann‘s theory

being applied with rigid dogmatism that combatants fought in the nude in these times as

well as the theory of heroism is depicted in idealised human forms

David conceived a new style for this

painting, one which he called the "Grecian

style," as opposed to the "Roman style" of

his earlier historical paintings. • The new style was influenced heavily by the

work of art historian Johann Joachim

Winkelmann.

• In David's words, ―the most prominent general

characteristics of the Greek masterpieces are

a noble simplicity and silent greatness in pose

as well as in expression.‖

• This work also brought him to the attention of

Napoleon.

• The story for the painting is as follows: "The

Romans have abducted the daughters of their

neighbors, the Sabines.

• To avenge this abduction, the Sabines

attacked Rome, although not immediately—

since Hersilia, the daughter of Tatius, the

leader of the Sabines, had been married to

Romulus, the Roman leader, and then had two

children by him in the interim.

• Here we see Hersilia between her father and

husband as she adjures the warriors on both

sides not to take wives away from their

husbands or mothers away from their children.

• Although David did rely on

the story of Classical

examples in Greek and

Roman art works as well as

artists such as Flaxman, he

always used models of

friends and pupils.

• It is in his portraits that he

shows us his skill of

generalising directly from

Models

• This is visible in his portrait

of Madame Verninac.

• Coincidently she was De La

Croix‘s sister

Jacques-Louis David. Portrait of Mme Récamier. 1800.

1. Juliette Récamier (1777-1849) was one

of the foremost society beauties of the

day. Daughter of a banker from Lyon,

in 1793 at the age of 16 she had

married a 43-year-old banker, a

business acquaintance of her father's. 2. Unfortunately, her sitting for the portrait

proved problematic – the model was

whimsical, spoilt and constantly late; the

artist was irritated with her and with the

lightning of the room, where she sat for

him.

3. Although the portrait reached an advanced

stage, it was never finished.

4. ―David's picture of her as a distant yet

fragile and vulnerable young woman did

not match Mme Récamier‘s image of

herself as a confident and sophisticated

society figure, and so she was to turn

instead to David's pupil Gérard to satisfy

her wishes.

5. David finally informed her: ―Madame, ladies

have their caprices; so do painters. Allow

me satisfy mine; I shall keep your portrait

in its present state.‖ Though attempts were

made to bring about a reconciliation, it

never occurred.‖

Abbé Sieyès

1. French Roman Catholic abbé

and clergyman, one of the

chief theorists of the French

Revolution, French

Consulate, and First French

Empire.

2. His liberal 1789 pamphlet

What is the Third Estate?

became the manifesto of the

Revolution that helped

transform the Estates-

General into the National

Assembly in June of 1789.

3. In 1799, he was the instigator

of the coup d'état of 18

Brumaire (9 November 1799),

which brought Napoleon

Bonaparte to power.

4. He was also the first to coin

the term "sociologie" (French

for "sociology") in an

unpublished manuscript

• In one of history's great

coincidences, David's close

association with the Committee

of Public Safety during the

Terror resulted in his signing of

the death warrant for one

Alexandre de Beauharnais, a

minor noble.

• De Beauharnais's widow, Rose-

Marie Josèphe de Tascher de

Beauharnais would later be

known to the world as

Joséphine Bonaparte, Empress

of the French.

• It was her coronation by her

husband, Napoleon I, that David

depicted so memorably in the

Coronation of Napoleon and

Josephine, 2 December 1804.

• Portrait of the Empress Joséphine, by François

Gérard

Joséphine kneels before Napoléon during his coronation at Notre Dame.

1. Joséphine de

Beauharnais, now a

widow, became the

mistress of several

leading political figures,

including Paul François

Jean Nicolas Barras.

2. In 1795, she met General

Napoléon Bonaparte, six

years her junior, and

became his mistress.

3. In a letter to her in

December, he wrote, "I

awake full of you. Your

image and the memory of

last night‘s intoxicating

pleasures has left no rest

to my senses.―

4. In January 1796,

Napoléon Bonaparte

proposed to her and they

married on 9 March.

David had been an admirer of Napoleon from

their first meeting, struck by the then-General

Bonaparte's classical features. • Requesting a sitting from the busy and impatient

general, David was able to sketch Napoleon in

1797.

• Napoleon had high esteem for David, and asked

him to accompany him to Egypt in 1798, but David

refused, claiming he was too old for adventuring

and sending instead his student, Antoine-Jean

Gros.

• After Napoleon's successful coup d'état in 1799, as

First Consul he commissioned David to

commemorate his daring crossing of the Alps.

• The crossing of the St. Bernard Pass had allowed

the French to surprise the Austrian army and win

victory at the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800.

• Although Napoleon had crossed the Alps on a

mule, he requested that he be portrayed "calm

upon a fiery steed".

• David complied with Napoleon Crossing the Saint-

Bernard. After the proclamation of the Empire in

1804, David became the official court painter of the

regime

Study by David of Napoleon

No man has been made to

look more heroic

Totally unrealistic but

stunningly effective

memorial to his greatest

exploit

Crossing the St Bernard

Napoleon had seen the

Sabines painting and

remarked that it ‗Did not look

like a real battle‘

When he asked David the

subject of his next painting,

David said

Leonidas at Thermopylae

‗Tant pis‘ said Napoleon ‗You

are mistaken, David, to

waste time on the defeated‘

• Delaroche's Napoleon is cold

and downcast, whereas

David's wears a pristine

uniform, and is idealized as a

hero. Delaroche was

commissioned to paint a realistic

portrait; the style of which was

emerging at the time.

• While the painting largely

represented—and was one of the

pioneers of—an emerging style,

the work was criticised by several

authorities on the subject.

• The reasons for this varied from

Delaroche's depiction of the

scene to a general disapproval of

Delaroche himself. Many of those

who were in the latter state of

mind felt that Delaroche was

trying to match the genius of

Napoleon in some way, and had

failed miserably in doing so

Leonidas at Thermopylae

Leonidas at Thermopylae 1. Interesting subject what exactly was David saying about the nobility of defeat?

2. But it certainly lacks the conviction and power of previous paintings

3. Perhaps the excuse of being a subject to the new emperor and the demands of a social

calendar are distracting to the purity of the artistic intentions

4. Maybe David's experiences had left him in a quandary about what he truly accepts to be

truth and there certainly seems to be something missing in this painting

David's Intentions are preserved in

an account to an engraver who was

given instructions by David. 1. They are literary and moral

2. He describes at length the thoughts

passing through the hero‘s mind

3. It follows the classic doctrine that a

painting should be like a heroic poem

4. The figure of Leonidas is a failure

chosen from a collection of ideal

figures taken from Winckelmann, the

other figures are all derived from

Antique examples

5. Leonidas is another extreme example

of Classic generalisation it would

appear in the over-refinement of the

ideal David has lost his connection to

the real world.

6. Perhaps the line of reason that

Winckelmann engendered had run its

course and was now becoming as

vapid and insipid as anything done by

Mengs

He did a commission of the

current Pope of the day Pius

VII 1. who had presided over the

coronation of Napoleon

2. He is represented by David

in the coronation of

Josephine painting and from

this he may have received a

request to do an

independent study

3. The Pope is said to have

expressed some concern

about being painted by

4. ‗An executioner of Kings‘

and could easily make ‗a

bonfire of a poor Pope of

papier mache‘

5. But David was apparently

delighted. ‗ I will have

painted an emperor and now,

at last, a Pope‘.

After the restoration, David was

exiled to Brussels

1. It would seem his ideals had

collapsed – twice it could be

said with the overthrow of the

French aristocracy, followed by

the coup d'état of Napoleon

and now after much

bloodletting, the monarchy was

back

2. There was still one redeeming

factor in his work

3. This was visible in a portrait of

Madam Tangry and her

daughters and in this he has

captured some of the Classical

integrity of previous decades

4. What seems to be true to his

work is when confronted with

reality, and within this kind of

observation from life he is able

to project all those Roman

virtues that his work embodied

previously.

His last picture ‗Mars

disarmed by Venus‘ -

1824

1. It is a sad testament to an artist who has

capitulated from a noble and determined

young man on a quest of truth and nobility

who has since lost his way and returned to

outward shell of his classical training

2. The forms of the poses are derived from two

sources:

1. His love of Ballet – the three graces

are stolen from old Ballet prints. The

Venus is a portrait of Mademoiselle

Leseuer, the prima ballerina of the

Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels

2. The other source are the kind of

mural study one would discover on

the walls of the unearthed houses of

Pompeii and Herculaneum. But the

virtue so evident in the Horatii has

been lost

3. The conflict between masculine and

feminine has also been lost

4. The projection of David‘s own internal

struggle between the masculine and

feminine principles is no longer his pursuit

The decline of David‘s style is a symptom of the larger

problem 1. This was the general decline of the ideals and principles of

Winckelmann‘s Classic ideals in general

2. They somehow did not fit comfortably within a revolutionary age that

was fare better suited to the tempestuous nature of revolution which

by definition requires change and not a static social order that

depends on control.

3. What is an interesting observation is how the language of high art

formally used to educated and inspire the adherents of the Church and

its ideas was then subordinated to the high ideals of the revolutionary

minded David to fuel the imagination of the French Revolution

4. This in turn was used to portray the absolutism of Napoleon the

Emperor and proves that Classic art can be put to the service of any

philosophic cause that requires the subjugation and adherence of the

populace in general.

5. It would appear that the years following David Classicism certainly did

not die out but became the domain of the connoisseur

6. The highly specialised style of neo –classicism had been adopted by a

man of genius

7. Ingres

Antoine-Jean Gros (16

March 1771 – 25 June

1835) 1. Born in Paris, Gros began to learn

to draw at the age of six from his

father, who was a miniature

painter, and showed himself as a

gifted artist.

2. 1785 Gros entered the studio of

Jacques-Louis David.

3. Competed (unsuccessfully) in

1792 for the grand prix.

4. About this time, however, on the

recommendation of the École des

Beaux Arts, he was employed on

the execution of portraits of the

members of the National

Convention.

5. Disturbed by the development of

the Revolution, Gros left France in

1793 for Italy.

Portrait of Baron Antoine Jean Gros Aged 20 by

Francois Pascal Simon Baron Gerard

1. In It he met Joséphine de Beauharnais

whilst in Genoa

2. He followed her to Milan, where he was

well received by her husband, Napoleon

Bonaparte.

3. On 15 November 1796, Gros was present

with the army near Arcola when

Bonaparte planted the French tricolor on

the bridge.

4. Gros seized on this incident,

5. Bonaparte at once gave him the post of

inspecteur aux revues, which enabled

him to follow the army, and in 1797

nominated him on the commission

charged to select the spoils which

should enrich the Louvre.

1801 Antoine-Jean Gros - Bonaparte on the Bridge at Arcole

Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Stricken in Jaffa – 1804

1. This scene depicts the courage of General

Bonaparte

2. visiting plague-stricken soldiers in Jaffa, Syria,

in 1799. Napoleon is touching one of the plague

victims, as Christ did a leper.

3. This huge canvas, hugely acclaimed at the 1804

Salon, was the first masterpiece of Napoleonic

painting.

4. Although the heroic nudes recall the work

David, the warm colors, chiaroscuro, and

oriental decor foreshadow Romantic painting.

5. The scene took place in March 1799 during the

Syrian campaign. Bonaparte, in a shaft of

daylight - ignoring the doctor trying to

dissuade him - touches a sore on one of the

plague victims with his bare hand. One of the

officers watching has a handkerchief over his

mouth.

6. Bonaparte, who had become First Consul,

wanted it clear himself from the accusations of

the British press, who had alleged that he had

wanted to execute the plague-stricken during

his retreat to Cairo.

7. The painting, presented at the 1804 Salon

shortly before his coronation - a particularly

opportune moment for Bonaparte

Followed by The Battle of Aboukir, 1806

was Napoleon Bonaparte's decisive victory over Seid Mustafa Pasha's Ottoman army on 25

July 1799 during the French invasion of Egypt (1798).

Napoleon the emperor drew the painters of the time away from classical subjects and had them paint

contemporary battles and imperial pomp instead, with himself as the heroic center of attention. Gros

subsequently portrayed Napoleon on the Battlefield of Eylau 1808 which forms the third of this particular

series.

The painting greatly influenced the painters of the next generation, Géricault and Delacroix, notably when

the latter painted The Massacre at Chios

Delacroix's painting of the

massacre at Chios 1. Shows sick, dying Greek

civilians about to be

slaughtered by the Turks.

2. One of several paintings he

made of this contemporary

event, it expresses sympathy

for the Greek cause in their

war of independence against

the Turks, a popular sentiment

at the time for the French

people.

3. Delacroix was quickly

recognized as a leading

painter in the new Romantic

style, and the picture was

bought by the state.

4. His depiction of suffering was

controversial however, as

there was no glorious event

taking place, no patriots

raising their swords in valour

as in David's Oath of the

Horatii, only a disaster.

5. Many critics deplored the

painting's despairing tone; the

artist Antoine-Jean Gros called

it "a massacre of art"

In 1810, his "Madrid" and "Napoleon at the Pyramids" (Versailles) show that his

star had deserted him. His Francis I and Charles V, 1812 (Louvre), had

considerable success

Again citing Britannica, "Exasperated by criticism and the consciousness of failure, Gros

sought refuge in the grosser pleasures of life." On 25 June 1835 he was found drowned on

the shores of the Seine at Meudon, near Sèvres. From a paper which he had placed in his

hat it became known that "tired of life, and betrayed by last faculties which rendered it

bearable, he had resolved to end it."

Hippolyte Delaroche (17 July

1797 – 4 November 1856),

commonly known as Paul

Delaroche

• Delaroche was born into a

wealthy family and was

trained by Antoine-Jean,

Baron Gros.

• he first Delaroche picture

exhibited was the large

Josabeth saving Joas

(1822).

• This exhibition led to his

acquaintance with

Théodore Géricault and

Eugène Delacroix, with

whom he became friends.

• The three of them formed

the core of a large group

of Parisian historical

painters.

Delaroche – Napoleon 1845

1. In 1837 Delaroche received the commission for the great picture, 27 metres

(88.5 ft) long, in the hemicycle of the award theatre of the École des Beaux

Arts. The commission came from the Ecole's architect, Felix Duban. The

painting represents seventy-five great artists of all ages, in conversation,

assembled in groups on either hand of a central elevation of white marble

steps, on the topmost of which are three thrones filled by the creators of

the Parthenon: architect Phidias, sculptor Ictinus, and painter Apelles,

symbolizing the unity of these arts.

2. To supply the female element in this vast composition he introduced the

genii or muses, who symbolize or reign over the arts, leaning against the

balustrade of the steps, depicted as idealized female figures.