More handpicked essays just for you.
The effects of art from the french revolution
The effects of art from the french revolution
The effects of art from the french revolution
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The effects of art from the french revolution
Chapter 21: Rococo to Neoclassism: The Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David (1748, oil on canvas) is a painting in the Neo-Classical style. It is hailed as tribute to ancient Classic ideals. David believed that subject matter in a work of art should have a moral (p.635). Indeed, in this piece he provides an image that is essence of pre-republican Rome. The Oath of the Horatii represents David's individuality, an individuality that would lead him to contradict the French Academy in order to pursue his own understanding of the art of painting, an understanding that was based on past and modern ideologies (classic Greek and Roman) and which represented a synthesis that would be soon adopted by supporters of the French Revolution. The painting depicts the period of the wars between Rome and Alba (in 669 B.C). It has been decided that the dispute between the two cities must be settled by an unusual form of combat to be fought by two groups of three champions each. They are represented by the brothers of the Horatii and Curiatii family. Drama unfolds as one of the sisters ...
The colors used in this painting are a combination of bright and dark, giving a sense of professionalism and unconventional feel to the ambassadors and their backdrop. Their clothing is brittle and complete. The composition of this painting is mainly “stuffed” into the center column of the image with the ambassadors substituting walls marking the end of the items in the composition as well as forming an area that our eyes are tensed
The Terme Boxer was located between the foundation walls along with another bronze statue of an unidentified ruler. Due to the odd placement of these statue two things have occurred. First, the statue was extremely well preserved and is considered extremely rare. second it raises the question as to its usage. The amazing preservation is shown upon examining the statues head and shoulders, which contain a mixed metal beyond the standard bronze that gives it a rich ocher. This ocher help to provide the image of the bruised and battered fighter that has returned home victorious after a tough fight.. Key features of the boxer also include his himantes oxeis or his gloves, they give the illusion wrapped hide and lend credence to the idea that the Terme Boxer
From examining The Oath of the Horatii, it is clear that an art piece can be shaped by the ideas and values of the society and Rousseau’s views had a significant influence in the painting. Rousseau expressed his views in his publications and David had used art as a vehicle for expressing his views in visual form.
My next visit was to the Metropolitan Museum to study the subject of my project which is the painting by Piero di Cosimo, ‘a hunting Scene.” This painting falls under the renaissance movements. More specifically, the work belongs to the early period (1400-1475). The painting was originally done using oil on tempera, but was later transferred to a Masonite board using oil.
Donatello’s first depiction of David was in 1408-1409 (early renaissance), commissioned by the Cathedral of Florence, who wanted to adorn the buttresses of the cathedral with statues of the twelve prophets. The sculpture was amongst Donatello’s earliest work. The David sculpted out of marble, stands in a sophisticated Gothic manner in slight contrapposto with a blank gaze. Almost, unaware of the fact that the head of his rival lays between his legs, to which a few art scholars have describe as cockiness for the reason of the subtle contort of his torso. The representation of David was a valuable element when it came to politics as well as a symbol of religion. Donatello was asked to craft the statue seem more human than a prophet and the pedestal that the sculpture is on reads: “PRO PATRIA FORTITER DIMICANTIBUS ETIAM ADVERSUS TERRIBILISSIMOS HOSTES DII PRAESTANT AUXILIUM (To those who fight bravely for the fatherland the gods lend aid even against the most terrible foes).” Which I like to believe, that it was meant for the people of Florence, they were words of encouragement since, Florence was a thri...
In conclusion, although Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II and Augustus of Primaporta, do appear very different, come from entirely different geographic regions and were separated by thousands of years, they do have many things in common. When we consider subject, style, and function; perhaps other works of art have more in common than they appear to have.
Wittkower, Rudolf, and Pino Guidolotti. Bernini: The Sculptur of the Roman Baroque. London: Phaidon, 2013. Print.
One of the things that I found very interesting about The Oath of the Horatti is how Jaques-Louis David used lighting and lines to continually bring the viewers eyes back to one central focal point. If you begin looking at the painting on the right the lighting brings your eyes across the painting to the swords raised in the air by the father. If you start at the left the lines of the sons bodies again bring your eyes back to the swords. The vertical columns in the center of the painting act as a frame for the swords, again bring attention that particular section of the painting.
Stylistic Context: The structure of this painting clearly diverts from the soft billowy treatment of the classical Louis XVI style. David minimizes most of the over feminine elegance and replaces it with admirable masculinity. Oath of the Horatii was released just 4 years before the revolution of France, in 1789 when the revolution broke out. David became the neoclassical painter ideologist of the French Revolution. This painting led the way for other neoclassical painters to follow.
Artists have a knowledge of all the artists that preceding them, creating a visual vocabulary from the art that they have seen and understand. For Jean-Michel Basquiat, that knowledge translates into his work, despite never having formal training in an art school. It is his awareness and understanding of the culture that surrounds him that brings a layer of sophistication to his painting, setting it apart from street graffiti that has been painted on canvas. Basquiat’s Untitled (Julius Caesar on Gold) (1981) is a confrontation of his own identity that is created with the visual vocabulary of artists that preceded him.
The statue of Augustus Prima Porta clearly exemplifies with his appearance the idea of a Mediterranean hero. Regardless of the beauty of the sculpture, its main purpose was to portrait his personality and the way it wanted to be remembered as an immortal character which accomplishes one of the functions of art that is to commemorate. In brief, we look at a Roman Emperor, which points his right hand above into the distance in a savant commanding way. The detail that we can appreciate in his amour represents the grandeur of his victories and his supreme imperial power.
The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different style than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and composition. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a painting cannot be seen more than in comparing Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence, and power in their environment, but restricting the figures’ sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific moment in time by their rigid outline. Perugino’s approach to the figures’themselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, keeping with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a strong sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Perugino’s approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes: foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter occupy the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is filled with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their scattered arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the
This essay will aim to critically analyse the importance of Donatello’s David in achieving the aims of the Medici Family during Renaissance Florence and will also elaborate on the history of the statue itself, and how it became a tool of such propaganda.
Larmann, R., & Shields, M. (2011). Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe (1400–1750). Gateways to Art (pp. 376-97). New York: W.W. Norton.
In David’s Oath of the Horatii he captures a scene with two very different parts. Three arches in the background encase each aspect of the story. We see a man under the center arc, sending his three sons off to battle. The three sons stand in the first arch, while we see women (presumably their wives) weep with despair beneath the third. The total of four men in the painting are rigid and straight. They are the embodiments of the neoclassical style which is a reinvention of the prior classical style. The women, however, are to the right, overcome by emotion. The elongated figures with their strong facial expressions are presentations of the baroque style. In Oath of the Horatii, men are dominating. The males have overcome emotion and attachment to their families, devoting themselves to the state, triumphant over female