Neoclassicism & Romanticism

Even though the artistic periods of Neoclassicism and Romanticism are very close to each other in terms of time, the difference in the style of art between these periods is so great that the works in each of these periods seem to be hundreds of years apart. For instance, the artists who first come to mind as representative of these periods are; French Neoclassic Painter Jacques-Louis David, who was tired of leaving under the rule of the undeserving monarchy and decided to use his painting as a way to inspire people into revolution. And Spanish Romantic Painter Francisco De Goya, who also used his paintings to inspire his countrymen to arms and take back their Country from Napoleon. For illustrative purposes, I will be writing about four paintings in total, two from each style. First David’s The Oath of the Horatii Between the Hands of Their Father then, Socrates at the Moment of Grasping the Hemlock, then, Goya’s “The Uprising of the Second of May, 1808” and finally, The Execution of the Third of May, 1808 Each of the paintings characterizes the period and the sources of their ideas which we can see further as I discuss Neoclassicism and its’ beginnings.

During the late 18th century, yearning for enlightenment, artists began once again to look back at antiquity for inspiration, thus Neoclassicism (Classic extra) was born. Roman and Greek gods, myths and heroes became the artist’s main themes as a way to . Because of their complicity and great level of difficulty, human figures in groups became the ideal way for artists to show off their talent. To help with the narrative the subject is brought center front and given very clear a facial expression in a stage like setting with dramatic lighting. To further emphasize the importance of the subject, backgrounds for the most part are boring so that it may not pull away focus. Finally, compositions were made with hard lines, very realistic, with a lot of detail and in a way that little to no brush strokes could be seen. Unlike Neoclassicism, Romanticism is a time for passion and rather than conveying their thoughts through myths and legends, the Romantics decided to make emotional art to show what was happening around them. Their paintings emote the drama of the day through forceful lighting and strong posing.

David’s The Oath of the Horatii Between the Hands of Their Father is the tragic tale in which two neighboring countries, in order to settle a feud and to avoid unnecessary blood shed, have chosen three heroes each to fight to the death. Cousins are therefore forced to fight against each other making a woman choose between family and love. This is a perfect example of Neoclassical art, in it the subjects are painted in the foreground, in a statute/heroic like pose, under a very dramatic light. Though there is a mildly detailed background it is painted in dark tones so that it may not take away from the main characters in the foreground. More than just a painting this is a message that tells the viewer of that time we are all responsible for defending what is ours, we must raise to arms and take back our land. If six soldiers can change the fate of two nations why can us many change the fate of one, and though we will lose love ones along the way this must be done to ensure a better future for everyone.

Another painting that does a great job at illustrating the characteristics of neoclassical art is David’s Socrates at the Moment of Grasping the Hemlock, Socrates a Greek philosopher is accused and found guilty of corrupting the mind’s of his young apprentices. He is given two options; either admit his mistake, retract himself and promise to stop or he can be put to death by self poisoning, he chose the latter one. Though Socrates may look energetic the painting as a whole still has that sense of statue like figures posing for the artist. The figure are painted with very sharp defining line and almost none existing brush stokes which was one of the major qualities of neoclassical art. They are under a dramatic light that falls upon Socrates and the young man handing him the poison making them the focal point of the composition. As in The Oath, the background has a good amount of detail but is painted with dark saturated colors so the viewers will maintain their attention on the figures on the foreground. Like most of David’s paintings this one carried a political message behind it, David tells the viewers to have courage like Socrates and to face death head on and with no regrets. It is better to die knowing you stood for something rather than to live on your knees kissing the boots of other.

Unlike Neoclassicism, Romanticism is a time for passion, rather than conveying their thoughts through myths, legends and allegories the Romantics decided to make emotional art which depicted the reality of what was happening around them. Because Romanticism drew its inspiration from things such as dreams, expressions, emotions artists no longer had to make realistic painting. The lines became softer with rough and broad brush strokes, individualism was coveted, the artist’s point of view became greater than the viewer’s and symbolism became a very important part of the painting. Also rather than painting a static moment, artists of this period prefer to paint “action shots” an event as it is taking place rather than the prologue or the aftermath of it. 

Goya’s “The Uprising of the Second of May, 1808” depicts the beginning of the Spanish uprising, tired of being mistreated by Napoleon’s troops the Spanish people took to the streets and began to riot. In an effort to stop the riots from escalating some of Napoleon's newly “acquired” Middle Easter troops were sent to disperse the crowd, but instead of dispersing the crowd revolted and attacked the troops. This marked the beginning of the Spanish Revolution. Unlike Neoclassic paintings where the subjects were painted in a statue like scene, here both soldiers and citizens are in the middle of the action. Using a combination of soft lines and heavy brush strokes Goya is able to depict the horror on the soldier’s face as he sees his brother being stabbed. Goya uses the entire canvas, there is no longer a focus only on the foreground. Another great aspect about this painting is its symbolism, for example,   the background is blurry to represent the fog of war that is about to engulf the whole country. The people being stomped by the horse represent Spain’s current situation where French soldiers do as they please with no consequences. The soldiers are painted on horseback to represent their military superiority but hope still lingers for the Spaniards, which is depicted by young man pulling the soldier of the horse and stabbing him.

Romantic art can be seen at it’s best in Goya’s “The Execution of the Third of May, 1808,” this depicts the French soldiers retaliation to the uprising. On this day Spaniard men, both innocent and guilty, were gathered, lined up against the city walls and shot to death. As with all Romantic artwork, both soft lines, rough and broad brush strokes are used to better convey a sense of movement and humanity within the painting. Even though there is only one source of light, the background can clearly be distinguished. Because of Romantics love for symbolism this painting is filled with it; first the soldiers are shown facing backwards as a way to dehumanize them, also they are armed unlike the Spaniards, which is a very clear statement that this is not gonna be a fair fight. The lamp in the center symbolizes the “enlightenment” that the French were supposed to bring to Spain but instead was being used against its citizens. The most important figure in this painting is the man in the middle. He is standing with his arms open like Jesus on the cross, and has a stigmata like wound on his hand. He not only represents the Spanish people who are afraid for their lives but are willing to die for their country, but he is also being used to demonize Napoleons army by saying he ordered the killing of a Christ like figure.

Death, destruction, lost loves, and heroic actions are emblematic of these two eras as evidenced by works by David and Goya. The paintings were both expressions and methods to communicate the frustrations towards those who ruled at that time. Even though these art styles had very different techniques both of them seek one thing; to show people know that just because you are on the bottom of the totem pole it doesn’t mean that you are less than the people above. But most importantly that if people unite they can become a force to be reckoned with.




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