One man, dressed in rags, sits stoically in his throne as a laurel wreath is gently placed atop his head by an otherworldly angel. Surrounding him is his audience; men and women varying in facial expressions, dress, and appearance. All these personalities are so dissimilar to one another, yet so familiar to us. There is Shakespeare! There is Virgil! There is Raphael Sanzio! The man in the centre turns out to be Homer, the ancient Greek epic poet. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ depiction of historical and mythological figures in his painting, Apotheosis of Homer embodies the neoclassical movement that hit popular painting like a tidal wave from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century. Neoclassical art enjoyed popularity as a result of a backlash against the popular styles of the day which were viewed to represent the degeneracy of art. Ingres’ painting perfectly reflects the spirit of neoclassical painting: elements of the new meeting the glories of the past.
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“The most important aspects of classical art,” observed German historian and archaeologist Johann J. Winckelmann, “is its noble simplicity and calm grandeur.” As an archaeologist, Winckelmann became inspired by the ancient artifacts being recovered at the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In the late 1700s, the popular stylization in European art was baroque and rococo styles. To critics, these styles were vain and overly ostentatious to be truly considered art. Rococo art, for example, symbolized European aristocracy with its attention on great scale and themes of worldly pleasures. Likewise, baroque art became an institutionalized art because it often portrayed the grandeur and power of the Catholic Church, which supported the style. The new age of painters became disenchanted with this status quo. Occurring concurrent with societal and political shifts in Europe, neoclassical style was born. “The only way for us to become great”, observed Johann Joachim Winckelmann “lies in the imitation of the Greeks”. With this idea, the German-born art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann encapsulated the movement of neoclassicism. Seeking to recapture the essence of classical Greek and Roman art, neoclassicism became the widespread movement in visual art in the mid-18th century. It gained popularity partly as a backlash against the baroque and rococo styles that concerned themselves with aristocracy, excess, institutionalism, and vanity. This sentimentalism towards civilizations past was not limited to art. It was rooted in the societal and political happenings of the time, especially in Europe. Neoclassicism became more than an art style to many countries: it became intertwined with the moral revolutions of the century. To Winckelmann, art needed to move its audience and teach virtue. Much like in the civilizations of Greece and Rome, art represents and serves humanity. |
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