The movement of neoclassicism was elevated by rejecting the popular movements of its day. Throughout the art world (centered primarily in Europe), the popular movement of the early 18th century in artistry was the Rococo style – which itself had been born as an extension to the baroque movement. To subscribers of neoclassical paintings, the rococo style embodied everything that had become degenerate about the function and aesthetics of art itself. Much like the rococo style sought to remove itself from the baroque paintings that dealt with saints, religious iconography, and the divine by focusing on the affirmation and pleasures of this life, the neoclassical painters sought to remove itself from the aloof nature of rococo. In turn, the two main ingredients that created neoclassicism became nostalgia and the romantic sentiment of rejecting contemporary society’s evils.
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In our society, an obsession with the human body is commonly interpreted to signify a perversion. To neoclassical painters, such a cynical view is understandable. Not because the person himself (let us be honest about the popularly accused gender) is perverted per se, but because etiquette and morality has trumped understanding and reason. This signifies a different sort of societal perversion; a different sort of decadence. Neoclassical painters explicitly created their works to reverse this decadence, to return to the days when proper virtue and culture reigned supreme. The classical Greek and Roman civilizations, for example, affirmed their existence and embodied all that was good and possible for humanity. Society has often gone astray from this ideal, but painting was capable of helping restore and immortalize perfection. Neoclassical painters built neoclassicism on this possibility to restore perfection. Among the most prominent figures in this neoclassical movement was Jean-August Dominique Ingres. |
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Jacques Louis David
When the name “Napoleon Bonaparte” is mentioned, the visual that immediately pops into minds is one of the former Emperor sitting on a horse, braving the stormy weather, and gesturing his hands forward to symbolize the inevitability and greatness of his conquests. This iconic image was intended by design to become indelibly linked with Napoleon Bonaparte’s accomplishments in life. The painting being alluded to is the famous, Napoleon Crossing the Alps. This picture not only embodies the allure Napoleon himself wanted to convey, but it reflects the spirit and mood of artists in that period too. This portrait was painted by the man often credited for being the most influential French painter during the neoclassical art movement, Jacques-Louis David. David personified the profound shift in societal values through his style of art: From the pre-French Revolution days of Rococo art that espoused frivolity, excess, and wealth toward more romantic, more classical, and moral-driven style of painting.
Tags: oath of the horatii neoclassicism, coronation of napoleon comentary, napoleon bonaparte accomplishments, jacque louis david, oath of the horatii propaganda, jacques louis david's legacy, neoclassicismContinue reading to THE ARTICLE »