The story of the ambiguous Anton Raphael Mengs

The movement of neoclassicism in art is often mistakenly characterized by its secularism. French painters that became the leaders of the neoclassical movement such as Jacques Louis-David and Joseph Marie Vien dedicated their paintings to support the political and social changes of their time. Namely, the French Revolution which sought to reject in one fell swoop its historical precedents, traditions, and what individuals viewed to be institutional impediments in achieving full human potential. The Church was viewed to be among these institutions. In this way, neoclassical arts evolved to be viewed as being antithetical to the traditions that were developed in post-classical Greek and Roman civilizations. But, that is a false conclusion to draw. One of the great painters of 18th century, Anton Raphael Mengs, a German-born Catholic, born in 1728, offers an example to the contrary. While his work became increasingly maligned with the later rise of romantic art, Mengs inclusion of faith as a source of inspiration and design in a unique style made him a precursor and pioneer for the neoclassical movement.

Though born in Bohemia, as the son of a court painter, Anton Raphael Mengs achieved his highest successes and positions in Rome and Spain. His meteoric promotion in 1754 to become the Director of the Vatican School of Painting allowed him to develop a reputation for combining the grandeur of Baroque art, hints of the ethos of romantic art, and create a new style of neoclassical. In particular, in 1752, he launched into fame when he was chosen to paint an altar piece for the Dresden Catholic Church. He wound up painting The Ascension of Christ which represented a transformation in popular art. Elements of the then-popular Baroque style of painting were evident in The Ascension of Christ, with its communication of religious themes and imagery maintaining typical Baroque art grandeur and command. However, the greater attention to detail in body language and clearer use of color compared to other baroque paintings- such as Titian’s painting entitled Assumption which Mengs based The Ascension on – gave the painting profound importance not only to the Church, but the art world.

As one of the great painters of his time, Anton Raphael Mengs was appointed as the court painter in Madrid. Between 1761 to 1768 Mengs stayed in Madrid under the patronage of Charles III. Mengs decorated the Royal Palace of Madrid with his frescoes and several paintings including religious figures and portraits.

Mengs demonstrated other characteristics that would be adopted by later neoclassicists too. Chiefly, it was his appetite to return to simplicity and the nobility of classical antiquity that allowed his style to adapt and become stylistically more modest. The reason for this is because Mengs drew inspiration from eighteenth-century experts on a classical antiquity, such as Johann Joachim Winckelman, who mentored and were among his staunchest supporters. The art historian Winckelman has influenced also the other early neoclassical artists such as Batoni, another famous portraitist and rival of Mengs and Angelica Kauffmann and therefore contributed to dominance of neoclassical painting over Baroque style. Mengs philosophy to art was that beauty could only be understood by looking at past civilizations, not simply nature itself. In this view of looking to past glorious civilizations, such as the Greek and Roman, he became an archetypical neoclassicist.He was never satisfied with his well-paid job in the Royal Palace of Madrid as he was forced to return to Baroque style and deviate from his previous neoclassical painting to conform to the king’s taste. However he continued to study Greek and Roman art and his ideas as a neoclassicist hadn’t changed.

One of his greatest paintings with the elements of neoclassical style is his Perseus and Andromeda. The subject of the painting Perseus and Andromeda which is now in St Petersburg, was taken from Metamophoses of Ovid. The artistic forms and sculptural figures of Perseus and Andromeda are the proofs of the inspiration of classical antiquity on Mengs’ art which made him admitted as one of the pioneers of neoclassical painting.

Yet, an explanation for why many people tend to disregard Anton Raphael Mengs as one of the “great painters”or discredit claims that he pioneered a style of art is because his overall style was consistently ambiguous. On one hand, his paintings exemplified the most bombastic elements of the Baroque style of the Church and aristocracy, such as his The Triumph of Trajan and The Temple of Glory paintings on the ceiling of the banqueting-hall in the Royal Palace of Madrid. On the other hand, he ached to become something different, and painted features that foreshadowed the more secular-based neoclassicism that became popular in a later era. Because of this conflict, critics refuse to credit him for much of his contributions to painting. Romantics argue that his work was devoid of emotion, neoclassicists argue that he was too consumed by a dogma that straightjacketed his style, and other critics argue that he was too directionless that his works ended up to be a pure bore. The legacy of Anton Raphael Mengs, much like his style, is frozen in history.

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