ART HISTORY Journey Through a Thousand Years “Self-Evident Truths” Week Nine: Neo-Classicism Jacques-Louis David, “ Oath of the Horatii” - Joseph Wright of Derby, “A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery” – Soufflot, The Panthéon (Church of Ste-Geneviève), Paris - The Death of Marat - Angelica Kauffmann, “Cornelia Pointing to her Children as Her Treasures”- The Formation of a French School: the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture” - Key Paintings of the First Empire – The Death of General Wolfe Giovanni Paolo Panini : Ancient Rome Dr. Claire Black McCoy: “Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii” From smARThistory (2016) The accurate history of Rome’s early days is obscured by the mists of time, but the legendary history of the days of the first seven kings of Rome was passed down lovingly. It contains stories of many adventures, including that of the three Horatii (sons of Horatius,) three young men who stood as the only hope of Rome against its enemies. When the great painter David captured this moment, he not only seared the definitive image of it onto the minds of all who saw it, but in a sense defined a new style of art: Neo-Classicism. Follow the link to find out more about this amazing work. Link to the article and video: https://smarthistory.org/jacques-louis-david-oath-of-the-horatii/ [New classics of the highest rank! This was the rallying cry of populations immersed in the 18th century Age of Enlightenment who wanted their artwork and architecture to mirror, and carry the same set of standards, as the idealized works of the Greeks and Romans. In conjunction with the exciting archaeological rediscoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Rome, Neoclassicism arose as artists and architects infused their work with past Greco-Roman ideals. A return to the study of science, history, mathematics, and anatomical correctness abounded, replacing the Rococo vanity culture and court-painting climate that preceded. […] A landscape with Apollo guarding the herds of Admetus and Mercury stealing them (1645) While Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain were both French Baroque artists who spent most of their working lives in Rome, it was their distinctive emphasis on a more classical approach that appealed to Neoclassical artists. Claude, as he is commonly called, painted landscapes, using naturalistic detail and the observation of light and its effects, with figures from mythological or Biblical scenes, as seen in his A landscape with Apollo guarding the herds of Admetus and Mercury stealing them (1645) An effect of orderly harmony was conveyed in many of his works, which appealed to Neoclassicism's belief that art should express the ideal virtues. Nicolas Poussin's The Death of Germanicus (1627) depicted the death and suspected assassination of the popular Roman general as recorded by the Roman historian Tacitus. While he was also a noted painter of religious subjects, Nicholas Poussin's mythological and historical scenes were his primary influence on Neoclassicism. His The Death of Germanicus (1627) made him famous in his own time, and influenced Jacques-Louis David as well as Benjamin West whose The Death of General Wolfe (1770) draws upon the work. Though the works of Venetian Renaissance artist Titian influenced his color palette, Poussin's compositions emphasized clarity and logic, and his figurative treatments favored strong lines. The Grand Tour - Neoclassicism was inspired by the discovery of ancient Greek and Roman archeological sites and artifacts that became known throughout Europe in popular illustrated reports of various travel expeditions. Scholars such as James Stuart and Nicholas Revett made a systematic effort to catalog and record the past in works like their Antiquities of Athens (1762). Wanting to see these works first hand, young European aristocrats on the Grand Tour, a traditional and educational rite of passage, traveled to Italy "in search of art, culture, and the roots of Western civilization," as cultural critic Matt Gross wrote. Rome with its Roman ruins, Renaissance works, and recently discovered antiquities became a major stop. Famous artists, such as Pompeo Batoni and Antonio Canova, held open studios as many of these aristocratic tourists were both avid collectors and commissioned various works. – “Neoclassicism,” from “The Art Story”] Hubert Robert: Aqueduct in Ruins, 18th century, Oil on Canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art – Jacques-Louis David: Belisarius Begging for Alms, 1780 / 1781, Oil on Canvas, Palais des Beaux- Arts de Lille Jacques-Louis David: The Death of Socrates, 1787, Oil on Canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art Portrait d'Henriette de Verninac, 1799, par Jacques-Louis David, huile sur toile 145 x 112 cm, musée du Louvre Dr. Abram Fox: “Joseph Wright of Derby, A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery” From smARThistory (2016) Joseph Wright of Derby, A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery (in which a lamp is put in place of the sun), c. 1763-65, oil on canvas, 4′ 10″ x 6′ 8″ (Derby Museums and Art Gallery, Derby) Two young boys, gazing over the edge of the contraption in playful wonder. A teenaged girl, her arms resting on the machine, in quiet contemplation. A young man shielding his eyes from the brilliance of the light emanating from the center, and a young woman staring unblinkingly. A standing man taking copious notes on the proceedings. Another man leaning back in his seat, listening intently to the gray-haired lecturer, captivating his audience like a magician. A key idea of the Age of Enlightenment—that empirical observation grounded in science and reason could best advance society—is expressed by the faces of the individuals in Joseph Wright of Derby’s A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery. The Age of Enlightenment Wright’s painting encapsulates in one moment the Enlightenment, a philosophical shift in the eighteenth century away from traditional religious models of the universe and toward an empirical, scientific approach. It is important to note the term given this new way of thinking. “Enlightenment” indicates an active process, undertaken by an individual by group. The age of Enlightenment is most closely associated with scientists and inventors, but writers and artists also played major roles. They helped spread enlightenment concepts via the written word and printed image, and inspired others to think rationally about the world in which they lived. The provincial English painter Joseph Wright of Derby became the unofficial artist of the Enlightenment, depicting scientists and philosophers in ways previously reserved for Biblical heroes and Greek gods. Joseph Wright of Derby Joseph Wright of Derby was born in the town of Derby in central England, and save for short stints in Liverpool and London, lived in that city his entire life. He was known even during his lifetime as Joseph Wright of Derby, to distinguish him from another artist of the same name. Even though Wright of Derby was the more talented of the two, he was stuck with the geographical identifier on his name. Other than Thomas Gainsborough, who spent much of his career in the high-society resort town of Bath, Wright was the most prominent English painter of the eighteenth century to spend the majority of his career outside of London. Operating without the constraints of the mainstream London art world, Wright was free to explore a general interest in science with his friends, a group that included Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles) and other members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, an informal learned society which met to discuss scientific topics of the day. Wright was known for his deft depiction of the contrasts between light and dark, also known as chiaroscuro, and his unflinching portrayal of the true personalities of his subjects. This trait caused his downfall when he attempted to work as a portraitist—few wanted a portrait, warts and all. The intensity of scientific discovery In the 1760s Wright began to explore the traditional boundaries of various genres of painting. According to the French academies of art, the highest genre of painting was history painting, which depicted Biblical or classical subjects to demonstrate a moral lesson. This high regard for history panting was adopted by the British—Benjamin West’s The Death of General Wolfe is a prominent example. Johan Joseph Zoffany, The Gore Family with George, third Earl Cowper, c. 1775, oil on canvas (Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection) Wright took this noble, aggrandizing method of portraying events and applied it to a composition showing a contemporary subject in A Philosopher Lecturing at the Orrery. Rather than a moral of leadership or heroism, this painting’s “moral” is the pursuit of scientific knowledge. With its collection of non-idealized men, women, boys, and girls informally arranged in a small physical space around a central organizing point, Wright’s painting mimics the compositional structure of a conversation piece (an informal group portrait) like Zoffany’s Gore Family (above), but with the dramatic lighting and scale expected from a major religious scene. In effect, A Philosopher Lecturing at the Orrery does depict a moment of religious epiphany. Much like the central figure in Caravaggio’s Calling of Saint Matthew (below), the figures listening to the philosopher’s lecture in Wright’s painting are experiencing conversion…to science. Heroizing the search for knowledge Orrery, c. 1750 (British Museum) An orrery is a mechanical model of the solar system, a miniature, clockwork planetarium. Each planet, with its moons, is a sphere attached to a swing arm which allows it to rotate around the sun when cranked by hand. When in motion, the orrery depicts the orbits of each planet, as well as their relative relationship to each other. The orrery depicted by Wright has large metal rings which can simulate eclipses, and give the model a striking and exciting three-dimensionality.