Rococo to Romanticism Study Guide

Antoine-Jean Gros, Self Portrait, n.d. And Theodore Gericault, Self-Portrait, 1818-19

Both were sympathetic to Napoleon and came to be known under his regime.

Chardin, The Kitchen Table, 1735

- Close examination reveals that Chardin changed the position of many objects as he painted, evidence of his painstaking craftsmanship and determination to create harmonious balance in what appear to be casual groupings.

Gros, Battle of Aboukir, 1806

- Commemorates a Napoleonic victory in Egypt. - Band of figures in the immediate foreground with the bodies of dead and various figures while the visual anchor shows one heroic figure. - A French general is attacking a wounded figure. - A son of that figure offers his sword as a gesture of surrender. - Top third of the painting is the landscape. Painting is separated in three sections.

David, Belisarius Begging for Alms, 1781, NEOCLASSICAL

- A former soldier coming across Belisarius, recognizing him and expressing shock and dismay of this former great general having to ask for charity from this woman. - Could be scene as a critic of the French King, as an allegory of the unjust rule of the French Monarchy. - Could be a hopeful allegory of a ruler who comes to their senses and listens to reason (Emperor Justinian taking Belisarius' wisdom again) - These scenes would speak to the politics and events of the current day through using these classical themes and occurrences. - The gestures of the human and male body are used to convey and communicate the narrative. - Directness of style and clarity were meant to convey the simplicity of the moral depiction. - A rejection of the Rococo

David, Sketch of Marie-Antoinette on Her Way to the Guillotine, 1793

- Acts as an opening for the exploration of how the revolutionary government employed artists and the display of art to further their political goals. - David was not simply an objective observer of this scene. He had in fact voted to send Marie-Antoinette to her death.

Boucher, Vulcan Presenting Venus with Arms for Aeneas, 1732, ROCOCO

- Boldness in the palette and color, much more striking use of color. - Venus needed to seduce her husband into making arms for her illegitimate son Aeneas. - The nymph was seen as unusually sexually direct for its time. - Embrace of classical mythology for the purpose of representing the sensualness of the human body. - The composition, driven as it were by the wind, revolves around the central figure of Venus supported by a cloud. Her husband, Vulcan, is seated at the right, beside a heap of armor. He seems to be showing Venus the sword made for Aeneas, while at the right an attendant brings him the newly completed breastplate and two putti play with the plumed helmet. Above, in a fire lit cave, two Cyclopes work at an anvil.

Gustaf Lundberg, Portrait of Francois Boucher, 1742

- Boucher was seen during this time and after as the absolute epitome of Rococo art making. - He very much admired Watteau's work and drew influence from him. - Well liked throughout the art world. - His admirers and patrons were not just limited to France, as he was celebrated throughout Europe. - Career reached fullest heights in 1740s and was potentially the most famous artist alive at the time. - Was director of fine arts of France. - His unmatched stature in the art world made him such a target for critics of Rococo art. - The notion that he was a feminine painter was quite common and that his work particularly appealed to women. It was a way of criticizing what some thought was an overemphasis on cosmetics and the superficiality of his subjects. Critics thought that Madame de Pompadour had too much influence over his work and in general. - Critics thought that he seduces and tempts young painters and leads them astray in his style.

Chardin, Soap Bubbles, 1735-40

- Characterized by quiet stillness and harmony. - Young boy leaning out a window blowing soap bubbles. - Vanitas image-Image that in one way or another allude to the fragility of life, the world, accomplishments, various aspects of our world, etc. - Imminent transition from adolescence to adulthood. - He doesn't need lofty subjects to express his message.

Gros, General Bonaparte at the Bridge of Arcole, 1796-97

- Commissioned by Napoleon to produce a series of paintings of great Napoleonic battles. - Shift to history paintings that depict contemporary events/figures. - Depiction took place during the Italian Campaign of 1796. One of his first great tests as a general, he is not emperor yet at this time. - The moment being depicted Napoleon grabbing a flag where he personally leads his troops across the bridge towards his enemy. Shown as a heroic and fearless leader, charging with flag and sword in hand. - Very close point of view gives a sense that we are present in the moment. - Kind of dynamic and slightly unstable pose creates a sense of movement and intensity. - Conveys a sense of directness in his experience. - Figure looks one way while moving another. Has a slightly unresolved quality to it. - Brushwork is much more visible, than say David's depiction. Contrast of handling paint, as David's is more illusionistic.

David, Cupid and Psyche, 1817 and David, Mars Disarmed by Venus and the Graces, 1824

- David was exiled to Brussels after the fall of Napoleon. - He is back in the realm of classicizing. - Much more irrational spaces/ornate elements. - Erotic themes of desire and love. - Reminder of the elements of the Rococo that we saw in his earlier works.

David, Portrait of Napoleon in His Study, 1812

- Depicted as a representative of the French State. - Different symbols of France on display. Napoleon's sword on the chair to the right representing all his military accomplishments. The scrolls of paper represent the Napoleonic Code and all his established civic achievements/laws. - Precision in the rendering of Napoleon's clothing and the objects. Specificity. This seems to depart from the restraint and simplicity of David's earlier paintings. - Very high level of illusionism, the brushwork is very photographic. Very carefully finished work in which the surface seems totally transparent to where you can't see the brushstrokes.

Gericault, Start of the Barberi Race, Rome, 1817

- Depiction of riderless races in Rome. - Gericault frequently drawn to the subject of horses. - He saw them of manifestations of power and unbridled bravery. - We often see in his works this battle and force between people and nature. - It would have been an enormous, and monumental painting that would have had no narrative. Would have been unprecedented but he never finished it.

Watteau, Venetian Pleasures, 1717, ROCOCO

- Figures playing and listening to music, dancing, and engaging in private interactions. - The gathering is again presided over by a statue of Venus. She is clearly meant to evoke a sense of eroticism. - There is no real clear narrative to the painting or significant event. The point is simply to celebrate the world of the aristocracy. - Made to be seen from up close, given the intricate designs of the figures and their clothes, etc. - Not a very closed or rational space but rather natural. However there is a density to the space.

David, Intervention of the Sabine Women, 1799

- First major work he exhibited after he was released from prison. - The return to a more traditional moment of history. This Roman scene depicts how the Romans stole the wives of their neighbors, the Sabine, because they valued woman in their society. - The Sabine try to fight the Romans to get their women back. The women we see are trying to stop the battle and encouraging reconciliation between the Romans and the Sabine. - David saw this scene as a fitting allegory of the coming together of warring factions after the Reign of Terror and the French Revolution. Theme of reconciliation of French factions. Personal kind of reconciliation as well for David in coming back to the French public himself. - David placed a mirror across from the painting when he displayed it so that the viewers could see themselves in the scene and understand their place in the reconciliation. He engages with his audience through this implementation.

Gros, Napoleon Visiting the Pest-House at Jaffa, 1804

- Focus is Napoleon reaching out to touch this infected soldiers' wound with his hand. - Shows his fearlessness. - This act of touching a wound is a reference of Jesus healing the sick, raising the lazarus. - There was a myth that French Kings were able to heal the sick. - Absolutely exudes a sense of calm. He is a powerful but benevolent leader. - Napoleon is this kind of powerful, but calming and reassuring leader. - The purpose was to cover up the actual reality of Napoleon's relationship with his soldiers. - Enormously successful work. - Lying all across the foreground of the painting is the body being depicted as a mortal thing. It really contrasts the idea and depiction of the body in David's neoclassical representations. The body is wounded, contorted, and fragile to death.

Gericault, Mounted Trumpeter of Hussars, 1814-15

- For Gericault, horses were a force of untamed nature. Represent animal forces/energy/uncontrollability of nature. - Interest in extreme experiences/states of mind/scenes. - Stillness meant to represent the defeated state of the french.

Watteau, Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera, 1717, ROCOCO

- French Aristocrats engaging in the kind of festival that they would put on. - These aristocrats were Watteau's main patrons. (who he would paint and who he would paint for) - A theatrical image of the kind of pleasure activities of the French court. Image of the aristocracy at play at this setting that they have created for themselves. - Cythera is the home of Venus (or Aphrodite), and we see a statue on the right side of the painting. - These individuals on the right provide a compositional backbone to the work. - The entire painting is organized around couples united in love or flirtation or seduction that are engaged in private interactions. - Watteau is highlighting a series of personal moments and the values of Venus, love, and private pleasures. - A homage to the theatricals that the aristocrats would perform. - Composed of a broad curving procession of figures. - The land is also lush, fertile, and prospering, just as the people are. - Colored surface is meant to seduce the viewer. - Cupid tugging on woman's skirt on the right, urging her to fall in love. - Going to the left and down in the painting, the couples grow closer and closer to a stronger state of intimacy.

Gros, Sketch for Battle of Nazareth, 1801

- French army fighting against the Ottoman's. - French forces are shown as more powerful and superior than the non-Western European soldiers. - Heavily criticized when exhibited. No single visual focus or anchor. We really don't know where to look when viewing this work. No particular figures that encapsulate the eye. No areas of primary importance. - Asserts greatness of Napoleon and France under Napoleon's rule.

Frans Hals, Merrymakers at Shrovetide, 1616-17

- Genre painting of a mardi gras celebration. - Figures are in costume, indulging in food, merriment, and the general festivities. - Hals was on of the more prominent genre painters of his time.

Girodet, Revolt of Cairo, 1810

- Girodet was commissioned to produce works for the Napoleonic regime that were used as propaganda to promote the empire. - Wild imagined and stereotyped depiction of the non-Western world. - Egyptians are shown as less-advanced and savage-like. - French figure is charging towards this naked Egyptian figure with his master in his arms. - Representation of Napoleon/French army military victories but also this sensual display of the Orient. We see some elaborate costumes, an abundance of naked flesh. - Shows the ways of how French artists imagined Non-Western figures.

Greuze, A Father Reading the Bible to His Children, 1755

- Greuze exhibited this at his debut at the Salon of 1755 - Peasant scene, a household gathered together for a daily bible reading. - Genre scene - A joining of sentiment and morality - Boy standing makes clear the submission to both parental and spiritual authority. - Idealized peasant and domestic order. The family's lack of luxury is evident and there is a sense of simplicity by their surroundings, clothes and house. - Meant to emit a sense of nostalgia of this sort of bygone era of purity, simplicity, virtue and order. All of this was in opposition to the corruption of the modern age/world. - Art is now serving the common good through the enlightenment and its moral ideas.

Gericault, Study for African Slave Trade, 1823

- He is dealing with subjects that are intensely political in their nature. - We see the violence of the trade. - An image of opposition to the Restoration Monarchy and Government.

Guerin, The Return of Marcus Sextus, 1799

- Heavily influenced by David's work. - Neoclassical History painting - Although he wasn't an actual student of David, he clinged more to his style than many of his students. - We see an aristocratic man who had been exiled from Rome because of an unjustified ruler. He returns from exile and finds out that his wife has died. - His daughter is mourning. He is immobilized by grief and mourning. State of anguish. - Stage-like space and stark lighting similar to David. - Incredibly well received work at the Salon, surrounded by viewers who had an outpour of emotion responding to this work. Incredibly powerful response by the viewers. - This was understood by many at this time as a sort of allegory of the pain of the violence of this time. - Marcus Sextus represents the many people who had been exiled during the revolution/reign of terror, etc. - An acknowledgment of pain and loss that many had experienced at the time. An attempt of reconciliation that was very moving for people at the time. - Using subject matter from the past to speak to its present audience. Addressing the loss, suffering, and mourning of France after the Revolution. - A sense of restraint with a limited palate. The composition is reduced to these few figures, characteristic of Neoclassicism.

Fragonard, High Priest Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe, 1765, ROCOCO

- Helped to establish his initial reputation, however he would not continue to produce history paintings after this. - High priest has just killed himself with a dagger rather than his intended victim. - Considered an absolutely triumph of history painting at the time. - Dramatic intensity to the figures - Choose to pursue a specific moment in mythology instead of Boucher's manipulation of mythology for his own use. - Thought as a response and rejection of Boucher's works, but not true.

Greuze, Self Portrait, 1785, Transition between ROCOCO and NEO-CLASSICAL

- Highly celebrated in his time and hallmarked the reaction to rococo. - We'll see traces and elements of rococo art and shifts with the style and subjects he picks. - A transitional figure between rococo art and neo-classical art. Bridgemaker. - Supporters of the enlightenment appreciated his work greatly. - His notion of painting promotes certain moral values that were best exemplified by the rural lower and middle class in France. There is a sense of modesty, simplicity, and material restraint in his works. - Crucial figure by investing his scenes of everyday life (genre painting) with moral significances and weight. He had an infusion of sentiment in his art.

Chardin, Self-Portrait, 1771

- His images virtualize a very stable world - Focuses on middle and upper class life--its families, practices, etc. - His genre paintings really show this beautifully still, quiet, and ordered world. - For all his seemingly simple images, he was really one of the most celebrated artists of his time. - He worked in genre painting and still life (lowest genre in the academic hierarchy)

Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, 1785

- History painter/neoclassical. - Gives us insight into the ways of the French Monarchy and how it tried to co-op neoclassicism for their own interests. - Woman in the red dress on the right showing Cornelia her luxurious objects. Cornelia responds to that by showing her children has her prized possessions. - She is an ideal feminine figure devoted to her family and rejecting material luxury. - Commissioned by the French Monarchy just a few years before the Revolution. They were trying to put out the message of anti-materialism. - Just as they had embraced Rococo painting that celebrated their values and ways, they now tried to improve their image with the public by embracing moral and civic uprightness through neoclassicism. They try to reject excess and promote virtuosity.

Greuze, Septimius Reproaching Caracalla, 1769

- History painting. Emperor septimius is chastising his son for trying to kill him. - Very poorly received and considered a failure. - Critics complained about the stylistics used, the weird anatomy and the general lack of clarity in the whole work. - He chose to depict a moment of speaking instead of a moment of an impending action or dramatic occurrence. - Outstretched arm is supposed to unite the son and father compositionally but it failed in doing so. - Compared to Poussin's Death of Germanicus

David, The Oath of the Horatii, 1784-85, NEOCLASSICAL

- Horatii brothers are taking an oath to defend Rome - Are supposed to fight another group of brothers and only one of the Horatii brothers survive. - Comes back to find his sister crying because she was supposed to marry one of the Curiatii brothers. This Horatii brother then kills his sister for mourning the death of an enemy. - Idea that your allegiances to the state should supersede you allegiances to your family. - Incredibly articulate and clear gestures, dominance of geometric forms. - Total narrative and visual clarity. - Figures arranged from left to right creates an almost stage-like space. - Very oppositional notion of gender present. Very clear delineation of the male sphere and the female sphere of the painting. Women are associated with privacy, family, etc. - Men are associated with the state, patriotic stoic duty - Men are very geometric and angular. The lighting on the feminine side is softer and the females depict a more curvilinear scene. - In opposition with Rococo and Fragonard's, The Swing. All aspects are basically different. - Absence of decorative flourishes. - Associated with honesty and truth. - Gestures are sweeping and unified. The figures are pushed to the foreground - Such a theme met the demand for an art that could improve public morality and strengthen the nation. Yet, to David it also offered the opportunity to construct a picture with a minimum of action and a maximum of drama. - In the center of the austere setting, the young men's father holds up his sons' swords. - The oath is silent and their lips are closed, but their eyes are intently focused on the weapons upon which their lives and their country's honor will depend. - The women, in contrast to the vigorous, erect bodies of the Horatii, slump down on their chairs. - David seems to have absorbed fully the lessons of Classical sculpture, as it was viewed at the time. The painting exemplified the ideal of "noble simplicity and quiet grandeur." - The drama of the scene is contained within the bodies themselves--the vigorous, muscular, tanned bodies of the Horatii, and the lethargic, soft bodies of the women. The contrasts between them not only show the different roles of men and women in society, but, more importantly, the two faces of war: glory and triumph on the one hand, loss and despair on the other. - David ensures that we realize at what emotional expense the Horatii's choice is made.

Gericault, Epsom Downs Derby, 1821

- Image of familiar horseracing subject. Less a notion of horses as an untamed force, but rather a more controlled image. - The vast majority of Gericault's work has a much more exploratory, experimental, and non public subject and style to it. Many unfinished paintings and sketches. - Works like this exemplify how many of his works were much more private in nature.

David, Battle Between Minerva and Mars, 1771

- Influence of Rococo art, profusion of curvilinear forms, be it in the curtain or fabrics/drapery. Absence of the clear delineation between the different figures and objects in the scene. - Not a very clearly articulated/legible space - Female figure seems to be more active while male is more passive. Reversing of gender roles.

Gericault, Portrait of a Kleptomaniac, 1822

- Invited by a medical friend of his to paint 10 portraits of medical patients. - Notion of painting as a means of exploring states of mind, intense psychological states. This is a new function of painting. - Gericault identifies himself as an outsider figure, a marginalized figure in the world. He opposes to the state run art schools.

Watteau, Gersaint's Shop Sign, 1720-1721

- It was the actual shop sign for that dealer. - Shops like this one represent a very gradual shift in the century, namely that many artist instead of producing works for someone that commissioned it would do it and sell it on the open market. - Displays the autonomy that came to the art dealing world. - The sign very much encourages passersby to come into the store and peruse. - All members of the aristocracy engaging in this sort of private pleasure taking and engaging in looking at paintings. Represents the activity of looking at art as part of this aristocratic world and pleasure taking.

Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Marie Antoinette and Her Children, 1787

- Like Angelica Kauffmann, she began as an artist through portraiture. - Portrait commissioned by Marie Antoinette. - The two were the exact same age and they developed a friendship to where Vigee-Lebrun became one of Marie Antoinette's favorite artists. - Quite clearly trying to communicate the role of the mother and presenting the Queen as very domestic/warm, and maternal. - Keeps with the anti-decadent and serious reputation that the Queen is trying to develop in this work. - However, these efforts didn't have their intended effects, as the revolution eventually broke out and Marie Antoinette was guillotined.

Hyacinthe Rigaud, Portrait of Louis XIV, 1701

- Louis XIV brought the academy of art under the control of the French government. He had full control of the production, philosophy, and discussion of art. - Under him the art essentially became influences of royal propaganda. This painting clearly tries to promote the reign of Louis XIV. - Created to present the king as a powerful figure who is the embodiment of the state. - He is in highly formalized dress, elaborate cloak, high heels, a whig, thus giving him greater height and stature. - Very theatrical, confident presentation. - Highly posed--nothing seems natural about it. - Although Louis' death did not abolish the absolute monarchy, it did end the rigid, even stifling, control that he had exerted over the cultural and intellectual life of his time.

Fragonard, The Progress of Love: The Pursuit, 1771-1773 Fragonard, The Progress of Love, Love Letters, 1771-1773 Fragonard, The Progress of Love, The Meeting, 1771-1773 Fragonard, The Progress of Love, The Lover Crowned, 1771-1773 ROCOCO

- Made to decorate the roof of the mistress of Louis XV after Madame de Pompadour died. - All four paintings in the series always show these couples in lush settings in different stages of courtship. - Interestingly these are not the same figures in the piece. They are isolated scenes, no actual narrative although it may seem so. - The subjects are not very weighty or complicated subjects, but keep with the taste of the court and aristocracy. - The Progress of Love was commissioned by Madame du Barry, the last of Louis XV's many mistresses, for the salon of her summer pavilion. - In "The Meeting", a young man has found a ladder to scale the wall surrounding the estate of his sweetheart's parents. She, having agreed to a secret rendezvous, looks anxiously around, suspecting that someone has followed her. - Although Fragonard's painting deals with a contemporary theme, it presents no less a fantasy than the works of Boucher. - Their charming "love nest", guarded by a statue of Venus and Cupid, all contribute to form a pleasing, if contrived, scene. - Fragonard, like many rococo painters, was a master at rendering surface texture--shiny silks, lush velvets, weathered stone, delicate rose petals. - His paintings, especially the backgrounds, are loosely brushed, creating the effect of feathery trees and fluffy clouds.

David, Death of Bara, 1793

- Unfinished martyr painting. - Subject was a relatively young boy when he died from the violence of the revolution. He was not a well known figure like Marat. - His innocence is being co opted by David to give innocence. His ideal physical form is maintained even in death representing the ideal virtue that he displayed. - This painting was never shown in public because the procession in which this was supposed to be displayed never occurred because Robespierre's government fell apart the day before. - David was very close to being executed because of how close he was with Robespierre.

Gericault, Raft of Medusa, 1819

- Medusa ship crashed off the west coast of Africa. - The captain of the medusa had been appointed by the King...he was an aristocrat. - He had little navigation experience and was appointed this position because of his status. - The officers on the lifeboats cut the raft of the sailors loose. - Most passengers died on the raft, only 10 or so survived. Had been on the raft for weeks before rescued. - Gericault depicts this state of deep despair and desperation. - The account of the experience was published by 2 of the survivors. - Gericault produced countless sketches in preparation for the painting. Immersed himself in journalistic reports about the events. - History painting taken to contemporary events and also contemporary reportage. Taken to new heights here by Gericault. - He also goes to the morgue to immerse himself with studies of the human body and body parts. He's very much thinking about the body as flesh, and bone, and matter...as substance vulnerable to death and disease. - Very clear how the difference between Gericault's perception of the human body than let's say David. The body is fleshier, it is brute matter in the world. - Produced these paintings of body parts to be in touch with the suffering of those on the raft. - Unconventional dramatic focus of this work. - Jungle of bodies piled on the foreground of the painting. - No neatly articulated space and clarity. An unstable raft that is tossing on the see. This infuses the scene with instability, disorder, and a lack of balance. - Diametrically opposed to the order of spaces. - Sense that these figures are very close to us. The space of the painting almost absorb us, almost as if the waters of the sea were around our feet. It makes its intensity more palpable and real to the viewers. - He has produced a history painting that is critical of the government. - A story of basic human survival. - Large scale ambitious history painting without a hero, because the passengers also may have engaged in cannibalism. - Extreme physically and mental states on display.

Chardin, Morning Toilette, 1741

- Mother and daughter together. - Stool in the far left shows a prayer book indicating that they are getting ready to go to church. - Once more a very quiet world that is fundamentally in order. - We see a mirror and extinguished candle that indicate vanitas and symbols of the fleeting nature of beauty and life. - Very chased and modest images. - There's not a woman who doesn't fancy seeing herself in these pictures. The bourgeois who bought these would see themselves reflected back in these paintings. Very relatable. - Little girl glancing at the mirror could be frowned upon.

David, Napoleon Crossing the Saint Bernard Pass, 1800

- Napoleon reached out to David to be an official painter of his ventures and rule. - The Louvre became a public museum as a result of the revolutionaries. Napoleon recreated it. - Depicts Napoleon on his military campaign through the alps. - Napoleon is on his horse characterized by this forward motion and he is depicted as being in complete control. - Shows Napoleon as both dynamic/fearless, but also in control. - Charlameign and Hannibal in conjunction with Napoleon's ventures. - Dramatic sweep of the red cloak, as he's charging up the mountain. Much more sense of the dramatic in comparison to David's previous reserved/neoclassical works.

David, Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, 1806-07

- Napoleon's coronation ceremony in the Notre Dame Cathedral. - He wanted to evoke the Roman empire in his coronation, as Napoleon wanted to associate his rule with that of the Roman empire. Very classical display. - The Pope had been invited to Paris to crown Napoleon and his wife Josephine. - Just prior to the scene depicted here of Napoleon crowning Josephine, he took the crown from the Pope and crowned himself. Shows the complete/absolute power that he had even over the Pope. - Tremendous amount of attention paid to surfaces, textures, costumes that we have never seen in his work. High level of illusionism in the work as well, wanting to depict the actual scene and people that happened/were there.

Gros, Napoleon on the Battlefield at Eylau, 1808

- Napoleon's visit to the battlefield the day after a great battle had taken place. - Both sides suffered a tremendous loss of life in this battle. - Napoleon represented as a benevolent conqueror. A wounded Russian soldier clinging to the foot of Napoleon begging for mercy. Napoleon has a Jesus like gesture of blessing or mercy. - This condenses the painting as a whole. - Painting as an allegory of Napoleon's rule and painting as a document of history. - No sense of orderliness and clarity that we saw in David's neoclassical works. - The paint surface is a visual entity with visible brushwork. The physicality of the surface helps to convey the physicality of the bodies painted.

Chardin, The Governess, 1739

- Nicely dressed boy with a book tucked under his arm. His head is bent slightly down, as it appears that the Governess is scolding him. - She is raising/shaping the boys behavior. - Workbasket of the governess on the bottom right, while toys are on the bottom left. Work vs. play. - No overindulgence in material wealth. Not showy even though it is an economic affluent family.

Gericault, Portrait of a Carabinier, 1814-15 and Gericault, Carabinier with Horse, 1814-15

- Not a portrait of an actual person. - Seem to symbolize Napoleon's fall from power. - The outer armor seems to match the sense of stoicism and emotional remoteness of these figures.

Antonio Canova, Pauline Borghese as Venus, 1805

- One of the most prominent neoclassical sculptors of the time. - Likely saw David's portrait and used it as a model for his sculpture. - No political resonance, unlike previous historical representations. - More private and purely aesthetic use of neoclassicism. Drained of its political meaning.

Guerin, Aurora and Cephalus, 1811

- Painting about love and desire told through the narrative of Classical mythology. - Reversal of gender binaries that we saw with David. The male body is the object of the gaze and the female figure is the gazer. - A look back to the Rococo.

Boucher, Shepherd and Shepherdess Reposing, 1761

- Pastoral subject - The two figures are lovers reclining on the banks of river with a soft afternoon light bathing them... very picturesque. - No narrative - Painting is trying to evoke a state of being of calm. An ideal state of pleasure. - Small details are meant to enhance our visual delight of the image. Our eyes move from one little appealing detail in the picture to the next one. - Evokes the pleasure of the senses.

Greuze, The Well-Loved Mother, 1769

- Picture organized around the maternal and matriarchal figure, rather than the patriarchal. Shift in attention. - Mother is the object of the intense affection of her children. - The young husband returns home to his beloved family and throws open his arms in happiness regarding his ideal family. - Dogs and hunting indicates that this family belongs to a slightly higher social class. - An image meant to convey the joys of motherhood and fatherhood. - Image speaks of maintaining your family in comfort. - Quite a dramatic reaction by the father given the ordinariness of the scene. No unusual event going on even though there is great emotions displayed. - Not only are the viewers meant to emulate this kind of family, but their experience of the painting in terms of emotion is meant to match that of the figures in the work.

David, Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of His Sons, 1789, NEOCLASSICISM

- Produced at the same year the revolution began. - Subject taken from ancient Roman history - Brutus was the first leader of the Roman Republic, helped lead the revolt to help overthrow the king at the time. His sons conspired against him to restore the monarchy and Brutus proposed a death sentence to such an act. - Brutus' wife with outstretched arm. - Willingness of father to sacrifice his sons for the good of the people. Centers between the conflict of private and public loyalties. Loyalty of the state is stronger than loyalty to family, but the price of this is clearly demonstrated here. - Quite sizable gap in the middle of the painting. - Male figures concentrated on left while female on the right. This gap perhaps symbolizes the dismemberment of the family. - The narrative perhaps is told through the very composition of the work. - Knitting basket on the table with a pair of sheers, this identifies the domestic concerns of the woman and represents perhaps the type of violence done to the sons. - The moral of this painting is ambiguous. Are we to sympathize with Brutus or the woman? Emphasizes the necessity to save the Republic through Brutus' actions or the lack of emotion displayed by the execution of his sons. - France during the Revolution would see a tremendous amount of violence supposedly for the public good.

Gericault, Charging Cavalryman, 1812 and Gericault, Wounded Cavalryman, 1814

- Received a lot of attention when exhibited. - The one on the left imbued the Napoleonic era and his battles. - They depict the two sides of Napoleon's battles, victory in Charging and defeat in Wounded. - The force of battle is depicted in Charging in the style and composition of the work. Very loose and visual brushwork helps to show the immediacy and movement of the scene. - Not a genre, portrait, or history painting. However it was classified has a portrait but the cavalryman is unknown. - The position of the horse received criticism. The fact that the back was facing the viewer and it's anatomy were very unusual. - The male body is off balanced, twisted, not timeless and not fully composed. - Wounded was depicted as a pair with Charging. - Brought down from his horse in defeat. - Was painted during Napoleon's first fall from power. - Symbol for fall of Napoleonic regime. - We see the defiance of genre categorization, because we can't distinct the which type of painting this is. It takes us to the term of Romanticism itself. - This undermining of the genre type was characteristic of both Romanticism in painting and in literature.

Greuze, Filial Piety, 1763

- Relatively spontaneous moment in the life of the family. - His posture and calm upward glance places him in between this world and the next. - It displays the rewards of creating a virtuous family. The reward is being surrounded by one's loved ones in their ailing times. - The simplicity of the interior is a demonstration of their lack of wealth and their proof of spiritual and familial wealth over monetary and material wealth. - Old man, paralyzed by stroke, surrounded by his caring family. The blanket wrapped around his legs and the freshly washed sheet drying over the banister are moving evidence of filial care. - Greuze's paintings paralleled Diderot's own effort to write a new kind of play, which focused on contemporary middle-class life and its problems. - Greuze delivered an art that dealt with contemporary realities, that showed genuine sentiment, and that presented virtuous examples.

David, Portrait of Madame Recamier, 1800

- Represents a continuation of David's pre-revolutionary neoclassicism but at the same way a clear departure from that style. - Plane arrangement of figures from left to right. - Simplicity and form. Readable. - Subject is depicted in classical garb and is sitting on classical furniture. - Background has a sketchy style, similar to Death of Marat. - The classical elements are employed in this painting for purely aesthetical ends. No political motivation for such depictions. - These objects are used to convey the figures beauty, neoclassicism has been de-politicized.

Vermeer, Woman Reading a Letter at an Open Window, 1658

- Role of the window very prominent in this composition/light source. - Tremendous interest in how light interacts with objects in the world in order to produce this scene. - She is somewhat sequestered from us by the curtain. - Not narrative but descriptive painting.

Engraving of the Salon of 1785

- Royal palace/residence of the king. - These salons were state sanctioned art exhibitions and were the main means in which the public could see art. - Consisted of a large number of people. - Best way for an artist to get their name out and show their works. - A jury selected what works would be shown in that years salon. - Very succinct, very clear demonstration of the kinds of paintings which were very promoted/celebrated by the academy and those that weren't. Those that were valued are at the top and those that were less valued are on the bottom. - Historic and religious paintings along the top wall, portraits and genre painting in the middle, and landscape then still life on the bottom. Displays the hierarchy of the genres and what the state deems important. - Lower paintings were the ones that people could see best/get closest to. They were smaller in scale and provided a more intimate way of looking. - The purely material world were considered less important than depictions of people and their actions.

Girodet, Sleep of Endymion, 1791

- School of David - Girodet was one of David's first and favorite students. - He had won the Rome prize. - Even though the two artists were very close, Girodet clearly tries to differentiate himself. - Classical mythology instead of classical history. - No political or moral message. - The gaze of the figure is clearly an aesthetic and erotic gaze. - The male figure's body is very smooth and elongated. Very passive and erotic pose while the moonlight shines on the figure. - Male body as an explicitly erotic object of the gaze.

Fragonard, The Swing, 1766, ROCOCO

- Seen as embodying so many characteristics of Rococo art. - Criticized for now producing works opposite of the High Priest one. A production similar to that of Boucher and for private aristocratic settings. - Woman being swung through the air suggests erotic abandoned state of play. Sense of losing control and indulging. - Patron is man sitting down looking up his mistresses dress. - Her husband is unknowingly swinging her towards her lover. - Celebration of illicit sexuality, indulgences and secret behavior. Not made to condemn it but rather to celebrate this behavior. Shoe of woman flying off her foot revolves around the playfulness and eroticism of the time. - Intense lushness of landscape that fills every space of the picture.

Chardin, The Laundress, 1733

- Servant joined by a child who are joined together in the scene. They are not interacting together though, reinforcing his quiet tendencies. - State of work and a state of play. One characterizing adulthood and the other childhood.

Francois Boucher, Madame de Pompadour, 1756, ROCOCO

- She was the official mistress of Louis XV and a very prominent woman. - It was thought that rococo was a sort of feminine painting style and it was seen as derogatory. - Pompadour's name almost becomes synonymous with Rococo style. - She presents herself with utterly luxurious surroundings. - An example of open indulgence in luxury and finery. - Shows a profusion of decorative objects. - Taken to an even more extreme than Watteau. Expands of the dress, furniture, etc. - She exudes worldly sophistication. - She became the special protector of one of the great intellectual undertakings of the eighteenth century: the Encyclopedie, a multi-volume illustrated encyclopedia that encompassed all contemporary knowledge, from philosophy and literature to astronomy and technology. - Volume and structure to the lace and ribbons.

David, Oath of the Tennis Court (Sketch), 1791

- Shown at the Salon of 1791 and was the first Salon after the revolution. - Foreshadows the beginning of a new type of history painting of looking to the future rather than the past. - Meant to commemorate the founding moment of the revolution. - Shows a meeting of the 3rd Estate, legislative body without much power. Shows a moment of fervent public power where authority is taken into the hands of the people. - This picture borrows from Oath of the Horatii. They both depict an "oath", gesture of the outstretched arm. The multiplied gesture shows the power of the popular people, an attempt to David to give form to something that is abstract.

Chardin, Diligent Mother, 1740

- Shows a domestic space. Husbands and fathers are almost never depicted in Chardin's work. Never adult scenes. - Chardin depicts mothers in their domestic duties and child raising instances. - Orderly, charming, simple, illusionary.

Chardin, The Ray, 1727 and Chardin, The Kitchen Table, 1735, STILL ROCOCO

- Small scale subject and painting. They were sized to be hung in relatively small scale interiors. - An array of subjects meant for consumption. - This style had no human figures and was grounded purely in direct observation. Seen as a style only focused on the appeal of the eye...not the mind. - The Ray is divided into two zones, the right side has inanimate objects while the left is the more animated world with the animals, food, etc. The ray in the painting was seen as repulsive and ugly. - Still lifes during this time focused on illusionism and how paint/pigment tended to transform. - There is a wide range of textures and materials, how the light reflects off everything. - How the painter transforms paint into illusionistic spaces and objects. - Very absorbing works.

David, The Death of Socrates, 1787, NEOCLASSICISM

- Socrates refused to flee after being charged with a death sentence. - Socrates accepts his sentencing and is bathed in light as if he is a divine figure. - Socrates' wife is in the background. - Figure of erotic interest is the cupbearer, his body is partially exposed, his fabric is clinging to his body, Socrates' outstretched arm seems not not only be reaching for the cup, but the cup bearer also. Reinforces how the male form was seen as the ideal of beauty at the time, not female beauty. - The Greek philosopher is dying for an ideal of society that was perceived as a threat by the ruling powers. It is often thought to anticipate the sacrifices of the French revolutionaries of 1789. - In fact commissioned by a member of the French aristocracy and an important art patron of the time. The patron's interest had more to do with Classical philosophy than with his ambitions to subvert the status quo, even though, in 1789, he would be supportive of the revolution. - Socrates, surrounded by his disciples, is making his famous arguments about the soul's immortality as, almost absentmindedly, he accepts the cup of hemlock, the instrument of his death. - The contrast between Socrates' stoic acceptance of death and the sorrow of his disciples exemplifies the philosopher's belief in the duality of mind and body. While Socrates embodies the immortality of the soul, the disciples represent the painful mortality of the flesh. - David's reliance on the ideas and writings of Diderot may explain why he emphasized gesture and facial expression more than in the Oath of the Horatii.

Greuze, Prodigal Son, 1777-78

- Son returns home to find his father sick. - "They poison the soul with a sentiment so powerful that one is forced to look away from the paintings." - Very compositional, left to right. - Greuze devoted himself to genre painting with moralizing undertones, which he treats with emphasis, rigor and sobriety. In the tradition of the Bible parable of the prodigal son, The Father's Curse first describes a father cursing his son, who neglects the family (of which he is the sole support) to join the army, and in the subsequent scene, the son finding his father dead on his return. Adopting the canons of classical history painting, Greuze employs a frieze composition, a sombre, matte coloring, and eloquent gestures, shunning an over-accurate description of details.

David, Leonidas at Thermopylae, 1814

- Story of heroic Greek resistance over the Persian army. - Shows Leonidas before his moment of heroic defeat. - Classical leader sacrificing himself and people for the greater good. - Napoleon dismissed this painting as a story of defeat and was uninterested in David pursuing this subject. - David leaves it alone and completes it in 1814 after Napoleon's failed Russian campaign. - This story of abnormal heroic loss becomes appropriate for Napoleon's rule and attempted returns. Range of ideal male bodies.

Gericault, Butchers of the Rome Cattle Market, 1817

- Struggle between people and nature as the Butchers are struggling with the cattle.

Chardin, Young Student Drawing, 1733-8

- Student copying a drawing in front of him. - Tends to tell us a good deal about how an artist defines art. - Chardin is attempting to compare the merits of academic painting (which is encompassed by privileged and a linear model) with that of his own style. He was a painters painter. - We see a figured absorbed in a task and in his own world...focused and hush environment.

David, Oath of the Tennis Court (Painting), 1792

- Unfinished painting, the figures in the foreground were meant to be lifesize. - David didn't finish it because of the issue of depicting contemporary events in an unstable time. The politics of the moment were too unstable to be shown in a fixed way.

Gerard, Cupid and Psyche, 1798

- Student of David. - Transforming "Davidian" neoclassicism. - Really softened David's neoclassicism and made it more natural. - A retreat from revolutionary subject matter into mythological subject matter and into the theme of love. - No clear binary of how male and female figures were depicted during the time. - Minimizing of sexual difference. - Don't see the heroic and public resonance of these neoclassical paintings as we saw with David. - Much more sentimental painting, still neoclassical but much different. - Very high level of finish, almost a sort of glassiness to it. Almost as if these figures are suspended in time and frozen in space. - Marks a turning point in the development of neoclassicism. - Much more watered down, and accessible form of painting. Less demanding of the viewer and asks less of the viewer.

Boucher, The Toilette of Venus, 1751 and Boucher, The Bath of Venus, 1751

- Subject matter is very fitting given that they would be on display in the setting of a toilette or bath. - They are a celebration of that courtly pastime. - They also are a tribute to Madame de Pompadour and it equates her to the goddess Venus. - Importance of tending to the body. - Attention to variety and distinct surfaces. What they are isn't important, but what they look like and what they evoke is really what Boucher is trying to accomplish.

Boucher, Madame de Pompadour, 1756

- Subject was a middle class Parisian, considered to be extremely beautiful and would become the official mistress of King Louis XV. She remained a close advisor to the King after their romance. She was very intelligent and talented. She was smart in using visual representations of herself to heighten her perceived influence and stature in the court. - In other words, she was not born into the world that she came to inhabit in court. - Boucher's portraits of her were an important part of her project of self redefinition and image making. - The aim of these images was not about what she looked like but rather to create an image of her and define herself to an audience. - Painting shows her interest in philosophy and her learnedness. - Engravings on the floor are made by Pompadour, and highlight her artistic prowess as well. - This engravings link Pompadour and Boucher together/linking of patron and artist. - Celebration of her aesthetic taste by all the ornamentation and objects around her.

Fragonard, The Bathers, 1765, ROCOCO

- Takes the absence of narrative to new heights. - Might remind us of Boucher's mythological subjects, although there is no mythological pretext. - Almost a subjectless art. The full focus is on sensual pleasure and a loose kind of style of painting. - The focus on attending to the nude body. - There's a pleasure in painting that is akin to the pleasures and activities in the painting.

Boucher, The Toilette of Venus, 1751, ROCOCO

- The subject is the self beautification, a celebration of the body, and the attending of the body. - Luxurious curtains, metal objects, and visual delights pleasure the viewers. Wonderful variety of textures and surfaces. - It is another homage to Venus. - Also an homage to the private amusements of the aristocratic world. - We get a sense of how Rococo painting was associated with certain political and social behavior and the ethical aspects as well.

Watteau, Respite from War, 1713 and Watteau, Bivouac, 1710, ROCOCO

- These pictures are very unlike any military images that had been produced at the time - They don't commemorate any military triumph, its power, etc. But rather it shows the unremarkable, repetitive, and everyday moments of a soldier's life.

Boucher, Madame de Pompadour at her Toilette, 1758

- Toilette is a place where one tends to their body and a place of self beautification. - Looking out at the viewer, not the mirror. - Holding makeup in her hands. - Almost the whole painting is made up of pinks, whites, and reds. - The hand that's holding the box of rouge is turned so that we see the bracelet she is prominently displaying on her hand. The bracelet has the face of Louis XV. Thus, not only is this a portrait of Pompadour but also Louis XV. - Undermining of her relationship and her closeness to the King and is an affirmation of her prominence and power in the court do to her relation with the King. - She is already made up, and is instead performing the act of being made up. In a sense an homage to the importance of appearances, dress, and makeup to one's identity. The idea that identity is a performance--an act that one participates in. - The relationship of artist to patron is also apparent through Pompadour's application of makeup, as she is in a way a work of art, but also an artist.

David, Antiochus and Stratonice, 1774

- Transition away from Rococo painting. - Neoclassicism starts to emerge - Much more strained and linear, each figure is much more clearly delineated. - The figures' place are much more closely defined. - This narrative is told through the human body/gestures/arrangements/etc. - The main figures are arranged on this sort of horizontal plane. - The purpose is to make these figures much more accessible to the viewer. - Stylistically and Compositional shift away from Rococo - Great interest in the classical world/antiquity during this time in France - Produced while he was still a student and won the Rome Prize - The winner of this prize would travel to Rome and live there to study classical art and the renaissance all of which was paid for by the Academy of Art in France. - David learned the art of the antiquity first time and shows us how powerful/central older traditional art is on current times. The idea that art is a continuum of its previous form.

Johannes Vermeer, The Milkmaid, 1658-1660

- Vermeer has a relatively small body of work...which limited his success. He had fewer paintings in order to establish his reputation and not many circulated. He's a master genre painter. - Very quiet room and otherwise empty without the milkmaid. - Very slow world and the only action is the milk being poured in which the woman is fully focused on. - An unremarkable scene but painted in an utterly remarkable way. - The window signals to us Vermeer's fascination with the subtleties of light. - We see the back wall being black and progressively building up to lightness. - Can be seen as an allegory of painting through the progression of light (similar to the progression of painting)

David, Death of Marat, 1793

- Very much in a pose of a prophet of sorts. Jesus-like. - Secular worship taking the place of the old religious icon. - A new kind of secular martyr. He has a chest wound, bathed in light, body is contorted. - The bath he is situated in evokes a tomb or grave. - Has a sense of this image of consolation. - David did not want to further inflame public commotion over the assassination, so he produces this quiet memorial to this Revolutionary hero. - Only one of the three martyr paintings that he finished. Idealized male body that is representative of an ideal character and display of citizenship. - Example of how closely imagery and politics at the time could intersect with one another.

Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665

- Very perplexing painting. - Not how dutch women dressed at the time (headdress and clothes) - Not so much a painting of a woman, but a painting of a woman who represents painting. - Vermeer's interest in displaying how light moves and its relationship between light and dark on full exhibition. - Chiaroscuro

Jacques-Louis David

- Very successful and influential painter. - Embodiment of neoclassical painting - One of napoleon's favorite artists. - Official painter of the French Revolution - Head of the French Studio

Greuze, The Marriage Contract, 1761

- Very well received and celebrated - Virtuous father amongst his family as he carries out his familial duties. - Drawing up of the marriage contract/right of passage. - Very relevant and relatable subject to many viewers. - Mother and sister of the bride cling to the bride emphasizing how she is about to leave the household. Shows that this is a dichotomous scene of both happiness and sadness. - Wife is an image of ideal modesty and virtuosity. - The father is also a virtuous figure in that everyone is watching him and should model him. - Husband is holding a bag of money symbolizing how the father is also the economic authority. - Relatively uncluttered space as the places of the figures are articulated clearly. - Obscure setting makes of the figures the focus of the work. - Anti rococo in the more organized space and modest subject. - Illusionistically convincing quality to the scene heightening its moral and emotional impact. - In rococo works, one would have to the the pretext and pre existing mythological scenes, while Greuze's works are more relatable to the common man. The painting seeks to demonstrate that virtue and poverty can coexist. This kind of highly emotional, theatrical, and moralizing genre scene was widely praised in Greuze's time, offering a counterpoint to early Neoclassical history painting in France.

Boucher, Venus and Mars Surprised by Vulcan, 1754, ROCOCO

- Vulcan was the husband of Venus and is shown having just discovered Mars and Venus together. A scene of adultery. Boucher isn't painting this work as a moral warning to viewers or a criticism as to what is occurring in the work. - He's choice is simply a celebration of love making. - The mythological subject is really chosen for its erotic content and a pretext for the display of human flesh. It allows the painter to depict nude figures.

François Boucher, Portrait of Antoine Watteau, 1726

- Watteau was one of the first major Rococo artist. - He was very admired and influential during his lifetime. He was also an exception to the other major artists of the time: no commissions from state and church, didn't paint historical subjects or scenes.

Watteau, Gathering in a Park, 1718, ROCOCO

- We see the density of trees filling the space. - The naturalness of the moment embodies the scene. - Erotic advances in action. - Figures quietly embracing the nature. - The closeness of the figures represents the fact that the viewer has to also be close to it.

Chardin, Saying Grace, 1740

- shows children learning from their maid or governess. They are learning how to be pious or virtuous at the dinner table. - Chardin has a forthright and simple nature to the way he created his paintings that matched the subject matter. - Shows a sober middle-class interior with a maid bending over the dinner table. Two children are seated opposite her. - As in all paintings by Chardin, action and narrative are limited: the woman watches the little boy say his prayers as she places the dishes on the table.

Chardin, The Return from Market, 1739

- we see a maid coming back from the market with a clean kitchen that relates to the fact that the maid is doing a good job. An ordered household and life on display. - She has a quiet, solid presence. - Air and light move around these very believable figures and subjects. - These works don't tell a story but show simple incidents in life. Different from Greuze's works.

Louis-Michel van Loo, Portrait of Denis Diderot, 1767

Art criticism emerged in the 18th century. Really develops in the second half of the century.

Rubens, Allegory of Four Corners of the World, 1615 vs. Poussin, Death of Germanicus, 1627

Poussin: - Great example of history painting - Germanicus was a Roman general who was poisoned by his father who was jealous of his son. - Very linear, clear order, clarity and rationality. - Clear bodily gestures of the figures. They are more or less arranged from left to right with the intention of maximum clarity and use of space. Rubens: - Great representative of colors painting. - Very associated with skin, flesh and the relationship between colors and images. - Great variety and subtlety of colors in depicting the skin of figures. - Rich range of color used to depict a subject's skin. A delight to the eye.

Fragonard, Self-Portrait

Student of Boucher Fragonard was a tremendous disappointment to those who thought they would continue the history painting. Fragonard and Boucher were thought to be corrupt in their work and their political and moral decadence. Rococo painting was thought by some to be immoral and was a symbol to the government that was about to be overthrown by the people.

Frescoes, Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, 2nd and 1st century BC

The excavation of these frescoes and the city of Pompeii at the time brought greater interest to the classical world.

Titian, Danae, c. 1552-1553 vs. Michelangelo, Temptation and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, 1508-12

Titian is a color painter. Artist who are considered colors image tend not to draw an image and color it in at a later stage. The boundaries between figures are of less importance, but instead the focus is on the masses of color and their differences. Focused on the decorative, irrational and subjective. Michelangelo is a linear painter. Linear painters focus more on edges, rational, more objective, less sensual.

Greuze, Ungrateful Son, 1777

We see the son leaving the family to join the army. Soldier is present at the door who has convinced the son to enlist. Greuze is insisting that leaving for the army is a way to escape familial duties. - In this dramatic story, a son deserts his family, including an aged father, to join the army. Broad gestures, theatrical poses, and striking facial expressions communicate variations of two primary emotions--agony and distress. The cursing father on the left reaches with outstretched hands to his departing son, while the female members of the family plead desperately. Even the baby clings anxiously to his brother's coattails. The son stretches out his arm as he advances toward the door, where his bemused companion observes the scene.