Why neoclassicism started

In the United States ideals and principles have inspired neoclassical buildings and constructions. Washington, D. Skip to main content. Log in Sign up Home. Contact us. 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. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

As with painting, Neoclassicism made its way into sculpture in the second half of the 18th century. In addition to the ideals of the Enlightenment, the excavations of the ruins at Pompeii began to spark a renewed interest in classical culture. Whereas Rococo sculpture consisted of small-scale asymmetrical objects focusing on themes of love and gaiety, neoclassical sculpture assumed life-size to monumental scale and focused on themes of heroism, patriotism, and virtue. In his tomb sculpture, the Enlightenment philosophe Voltaire is honored in true Neoclassical form.

In a style influenced by ancient Roman verism, he appears as an elderly man to honor his wisdom. Like his ancient predecessors, his facial expression and his body language suggest an air of scholarly seriousness. Neoclassical sculptors benefited from an abundance of ancient models, albeit Roman copies of Greek bronzes in most cases. The leading Neoclassical sculptors enjoyed much acclaim during their lifetimes.

His style became more classical as his long career continued, and represents a rather smooth progression from Rococo charm to classical dignity.

Unlike some Neoclassical sculptors he did not insist on his sitters wearing Roman dress, or being unclothed. He portrayed most of the great figures of the Enlightenment, and traveled to America to produce a statue of George Washington, as well as busts of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and other luminaries of the new republic. His portrait bust of Washington depicts the first President of the United States as a stern, yet competent leader, with the influence of Roman verism evident in his wrinkled forehead, receding hairline, and double chin.

The Italian artist Antonio Canova and the Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen were both based in Rome, and as well as portraits produced many ambitious life-size figures and groups.

Both represented the strongly idealizing tendency in Neoclassical sculpture. Hebe by Antonio Canova — Canova has a lightness and grace, where Thorvaldsen is more severe. Monument to Copernicus by Bertel Thorvaldsen — Warsaw, Poland. Neoclassical architecture looks to the classical past of the Graeco-Roman era, the Renaissance, and classicized Baroque to convey a new era based on Enlightenment principles. Neoclassical architecture, which began in the mid 18th century, looks to the classical past of the Graeco-Roman era, the Renaissance, and classicized Baroque to convey a new era based on Enlightenment principles.

This movement manifested in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque. In its purest form, Neoclassicism is a style principally derived from the architecture of Classical Greece and Rome. In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall and maintains separate identities to each of its parts. Ange-Jacques Gabriel was the Premier Architecte at Versailles, and his Neoclassical designs for the royal palace dominated mid 18th century French architecture.

Ange-Jacques Gabriel. After the French Revolution, the second phase of Neoclassicism was expressed in the late 18th century Directoire style.

To the left a group of officers stand in attendance, conveying a distress reminiscent of depictions of the mourning of Christ. In the left foreground, a single Indigenous man sits, his chin in his hand, as if deep in thought. Two more officers on the right frame the scene, while in the background the opposing forces mill, and black smoke from the battlefield and storm clouds converge around the intersecting diagonal of the flag.

A sense of drama is conveyed as the battle ends with a singular heroic sacrifice. Thomas Hinde tries to staunch the general's bleeding, and Lieutenant Colonel Simon Fraser of the 78 th Fraser Highlanders is shown in his company's tartan. While these identifiable portraits created a sense of accuracy and historical importance, almost all of them were not at the scene, and their inclusion reflects the artist's intention to compose an iconic image of a British hero.

The Indigenous warrior has attracted much scholarly interpretation, including the argument that he represents the noble savage, a concept advanced by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau who extolled the simpler and therefore nobler character of "primitive" peoples. At the same time, his inclusion also places the scene firmly within the New World, for the artist has carefully selected all the significant elements.

For instance, in the background a British soldier is racing toward the group, as he carries the captured French flag. As historian Robert A. Bromley wrote, the overall effect is "so natural Sir Joshua Reynolds, along with other notable artists and patrons, urged the artist to depict the figures in classical Roman clothing to lend the event greater dignity, but West replied, "The same truth that guides the pen of the historian should govern the pencil of the artist.

William Woollett's engravings of the painting found an international audience, and West was commissioned to paint four more copies of the painting.

The work, influencing the movement of many artists toward contemporary history painting, paved the way for David's Oath of the Tennis Court and John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence Its cultural influence continued well into the modern era, as, during the British Empire, as historian Graeme Wynn noted it, "became the most powerful icon of an intensely symbolic triumph for British imperialism," and in the British donated the work to Canada in recognition of their service in World War I.

Venus, the goddess of love, was jealous of Psyche, widely admired for her beauty, and sent her son, Cupid, so that his arrows would make the girl marry the ugliest of men. Instead, Cupid fell in love with her, and, learning that the two were lovers, Venus sent Psyche to bring back a jar containing a "divine beauty" from the underworld. Though instructed to not open the jar, Psyche did so, only to fall into the sleep of the dead, as the jar actually contained the "sleep of innermost darkness.

The flowing lines of Psyche's reclining form are echoed in the drapery that partially covers her, and Cupid's melting embrace. Dubbed in his time as the "sculptor of grace and youth," Canova here creates a sense of heroic and innocent love, triumphing over death itself.

Canova's innovative sculptural technique allowed him to convey the effect of living skin, feathered wings, realistically folding drapery, and the rough rock at the base. Reflecting a Neoclassical scientific approach, his study of the human form was rigorous, as he employed precise measurements and life casts in preparation for working on the marble. For his depiction of Cupid, he was inspired by a Roman painting, which he had seen at the excavation site of Herculaneum.

Yet, while firmly posited within Neoclassicism, this work's emphasis on emotion and feeling prefigures the Romantic movement that followed. The Classical models even inspired urban planning, with the grid system of roads re-introduced in many important cities.

Under Catherine the Great, St. Petersburg was transformed with a number of impressive Neoclassical buildings. Neoclassicism is often viewed as the antithesis of the Baroque, a contemporary style that existed in counter-tension to the simplicity and symmetry of Neoclassicism.

The two movements, which both influenced the visual arts, architecture, literature and music, naturally have some overlap, such as their legendary or religious subject matter. However, in contrast to the clean, crisp lines and solid color of Neoclassicism, the Baroque movement exploded in a whirl of flamboyant detail, rich color and fluid movement, as vividly demonstrated by the Church of St Nicholas in Prague.

Although Europe was the original home of the Neoclassicism movement, its sphere of influence extended across the pond. The Founding Fathers envisioned that America would become a world power to rival the likes of ancient Greece and Rome.

From the Jefferson Memorial to the Capitol Building, Washington is testament to the ongoing influence of Neoclassical architecture. The most popular form of Neoclassical art for collectors is furniture.

From chandeliers to cabinets, chairs to columns, the well-ordered and elegant design of these pieces means that they are still popular today. Whether displayed as decorative pieces, or put into actual use, they remain among the most desired and valuable types of antique furniture. Both at work and at home, Mia is surrounded by books, and enjoys writing about great works of fiction and poetry.