The Anti-The Anti-ClassicClassic

What can happen in the space that immediately

follows the peak moment of an idea?

Anti- : against, in opposition. It does not refer to the non- or un- elements.

The difference is intent.

Tensions between opposites can become a symbiotic (mutually beneficial), working relationship.

Both helps to define and clarify the other.

Classical Greece and HellenismClassical Greece and Hellenism

Simplified issues of HellenismSimplified issues of Hellenism

• Greece conquered by the Greek educated Macedonian, Alexander– Appearances remain similar– Underlying concepts radically

shift

• Expanding “global view” created by the exchanges within the new, large empire

• Synthesis of Greek and “Barbarian” dichotomy give great energy and inspiration

The Renaissance & MannerismThe Renaissance & Mannerism

Raphael, The Entombment

Fiorentino, Moses Defending the Daughters of Jethro

The Renaissance & MannerismThe Renaissance & Mannerism

Bellini, Madonna With Saints Parmigianino, Madonna with The Long Neck

The Renaissance & MannerismThe Renaissance & Mannerism

Romano, Palazzo de Té, Mantua

Michelangelo, The Campidoglio, Rome

The End of the RenaissanceThe End of the Renaissance

• What do you do after Raphael and the other “super-geniuses” of the age?– How can it be improved?– Where else can this trajectory

continue?

• Sack of Rome in 1527 by mutinous troops of H.R.E. Charles V - final episode of a power struggle within the Catholic church– Loss of identity– Shattered continuity of

traditions

• Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance rose up against the influence of the de’ Medici clan, the original patrons of the R.– Loss of significant patronage

French Baroque + RococoFrench Baroque + Rococo

Watteau, Embarkation from CytheraPoussin, Burial of Phocion

French Baroque + RococoFrench Baroque + Rococo

Le Vau, Hall of Mirrors, Versailles

Cuvilles, Salon at the Amalienburg, Munich

Reasons for the RococoReasons for the Rococo

• In part Rococo was an extension of the idealized aesthetic of the Baroque – originally was an interior design concept

• Change of French Kings (Louis XIVXV) = change in the court’s favor: the Grand Manner became replaced by an endless search of the pleasurable life

• The grandeur and excess of the Baroque (Versailles) provided a reason to seek a more intimate approach

• Neoclassicism will eventually replace