Arts in the Neoclassical and

Romantic Period
(1800-2000)
 Overview

● Definition of Neoclassical and Romantic Period

● Art styles in the Neoclassical and Romantic Period
● Artists from the Neoclassical and Romantic Period
● Examples of Art found in the Neoclassical and
Romantic Period
 Neoclassical Period
● The classical revival, also known as Neoclassicism, refers to movements in the arts that draw inspiration from the
“classical” art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.
● Great structures that feel old, but really feel new (200 years old)
● Classically inspired buildings that came in the early 1800s
● Pure and ideal statuary

Art Styles
● Neoclassicism is defined stylistically by its use of straight lines, minimal use of color, simplicity of form and,
of course, an adherence to classical values and techniques.

Rococo
● A style of baroque architecture and decorative art, from 18th century France, having elaborate
ornamentation.
Neoclassical Artists & Their Artworks (Paintings)
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
● Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a Neoclassical painter of history and portraiture, was one of David’s students.
Deeply devoted to classical techniques, Ingres is known to have believed himself to be a conservator of the style of
the ancient masters, although he later painted subjects in the Romantic style.
Examples of his Neoclassical Works
● Virgil Reading to Augustus (1812)
● Portrait of Monsieur Bertin (1832)
● Joan of Arc at the coronation of Charles
VII (1854)
● Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864)
Neoclassical Artists & Their Artworks (Paintings)
Jacques-Louis David
● Jacques-Louis David was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the
era.
Death of Socrates

● An oil on canvas painted by French in 1787

● Focuses on a classical subject like many of his works
from that decade, in this case the story of the execution
of Socrates as told by Plato in his Phaedo.

Other Artworks
● Oath of the Horatii (1784-1785)
● Death of Marat (1793)
● Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1801)
Neoclassical Artists & Their Artworks (Paintings)
Marie-Guillemine Benoist
● David believed that women were capable of producing successful art of the style and welcomed many as his
students. Among the most successful were Marie-Guillemine Benoist, who eventually won commissions from the
Bonaparte family, and Angélique Mongez, who won patrons from as far away as Russia.

Examples of her Neoclassical Works

● Self-Portrait by Marie-Guillemine Benoist (1788)

● Elisa Bonaparte, emperor napoleon’s sister, and
Duchess of Lucca (1805)
● Portrait d’une negresse (Portrait of Madeleine) 1800
 Neoclassical Artists & Their Artworks (Paintings)
Angélique Mongez
● Mongez is best known for being one of the few women to paint monumental subjects that often included the male
nude, a feat for which hostile critics often attacked her.

Examples of her Neoclassical Works

● Theseus and Pirithoüs Clearing the Earth of Brigands,

Deliver Two Women from the Hands of Their Abductors by
Angélique Mongez (1806)
● Mars and Venus (1814)
● Portrait of Alexandre Ledru-Rollin (1838)
 Sculptures

Monument to Copernicus by Bust of George Washington by

Bertel Thorvaldsen
Jean-Antoine Houdon

Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss

Voltaire’s tomb
by Antonio Canova
 Architecture

Ange-Jacques Gabriel. Château

Arc de Triomphe of the Petit Trianon

Jacques-Germain Soufflot
Lord Burlington - Chiswick House (original architect) and Jean-
Baptiste Rondelet - The
Panthéon
 Romantic Period
● Romanticism is the ism of 1800s, romantic art is not kissy, mushy or flirtatious art, It is just emotional.
● Romanticism was a revolt against the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and also a
reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature.
● 18th century artistic and intellectual movement that stressed emotion, freedom, and individual imagination.

Art Styles
● Romanticism is a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing
inspiration, subjectivity, and primacy of the individual.
● In the Romantic period, history painting was extremely popular and increasingly came to refer to the
depiction of historical scenes, rather than those from religion or mythology.
 Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa of
1821

● A good example of a romantic painting is the Raft of the Medusa by

Gericault. This painting is intentionally emotional romantic theme and
portrays the spirit if Romanticism. It was a terrible event, a ship went
down and there was cannibalism and they are in despair.
● Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa of 1821 remains the
greatest achievement of the Romantic history painting, which in its day
had a powerful anti-government message.
 Eugène Delacroix

● Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) had great success at the Salon with

works like The Barque of Dante (1822), The Massacre at Chios
(1824) and Death of Sardanapalus (1827). Delacroix’s Liberty
Leading the People (1830) remains, with The Medusa, one of the
best known works of French Romantic painting. Both of these works
reflected current events and appealed to public sentiment.
 Goya
● Goya is a wonderful romantic painter who painted in Spain and his masterpiece can be seen in Madrid. He started of
pretty light, romantic painter, but he was a painter with political edge.

His Artworks:
● He painted the royal family, because he is the bread and butter
● The Third of May 1808: He witnessed the first modern armies. The painting is
to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies during the occupation
of 1808 in the Peninsula War
● He finished his life just sort of crazed and gloomed in his house. And then he
painted the "Saturn Devouring his Son" which is symbolic of time eating us all.
Very romantic in that way.
● The Milkmaid of Bordeaux
 Paintings

Lady Lilith
The Parasol
by Daniel Gabriel Rossetti
by Francisco Goya

Wanderer above the Sea of Bridal Procession on the

Fog Hardangerfjord
by Caspar David Friedrich by Adolph Tidemand and
Hans Gude
 References
● https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/neoclassicism/
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Guillemine_Benoist
● https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/neoclassicism-and-romantic
ism/

● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ang%C3%A9lique_Mongez
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Auguste-Dominique_Ingres
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques-Louis_David