Morality and the Arts of the Classical Era

Morality and Art of the Classical era became complementary, or synonymous, with one-another proceeding and marking the end of the Rococo style arts during 1780's France. This shift in the visual arts from what was ultimately interpreted as a 'moral decline', along with the discovery of Herculaneum ruins and Pompeii--upon which new ideas and new works of art might be borne--spurred the classical era and its loftier ideals. Morality in the late 18th century experienced several major overhauls, evening worsening by the end of the century, as socioeconomic factors became increasingly more apparent between the nobility of France and the Clergy, and the burgeoning bourgeoise. The transition in what members of society perceived as moral and amoral is exemplified in the art they commissioned, as well as the factions and movements in which they participated and supported.


It became painfully apparent to the middle class French the injustices and inequities they suffered and the aristocracy took advantage of. The notion of egalitarianism was new and in full-swing over the pond. The rococo style that was pervasive among the upper class French society could be interpreted as an insult to the middle class worker who experienced the brunt and near total cost of war--war that was initiated by a weakening monarchy in both power and wealth. Considering the heroism and virtuous depictions that came post-Revolution, Rococo art is a far cry with its theatricality, hedonism and light subject matter. 

Take, for instance, La Toilette de Venus or The Toilet of Venus (1950), by the French Painter Francois Boucher, who at the height of his career became the First Painter to King Louis XV (Wikiart, 2021). 



This nude and luxurious depiction of a classical figure might epitomize the Rococo style. Commissioned by the well-known socialite at the time Madame de Pompadour, and attributed to her, de Pompadour, or Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, was at one time "de facto prime minister" to King Louis up to the Seven Years' War, and served as his closest confidant and basically press secretary (Eschner, 2017). Her career illustrated the voraciousness with which members of the French court climbed the social ladder for personal gain. This pervasive self-serving behavior was commonplace around the King until of course the French Revolution. Madame Pompadour would be painted multiple times in the Rococo style and likeness of a classical goddess by Boucher, being his most generous and prominent patron. The Rococo style evolved in such a way that his style of painting, of depicting high-profile persons, or celebrities, as richly decadent, idyllic and care-free, became mainstream among the nobility, thus condensing the moral climate at the time to something less than reputable, even distasteful to the lower classes which were becoming more autonomous and knowledgeable. 

In deep contrast to the visual arts period prior the French Revolution, we need only look at the works of Jacques-Louis David for the moral exemplar in painting (Artstory, 2021). A bit of a freelancer when it came to commissioned work, and to allegiances, he nonetheless rejected the highly decorative Rococo style, and aimed for portraying the heroic in a classical style that dominated during the Enlightenment. 



Bonaparte Crossing the Grand Saint-Bernard Pass (1800), might be David's most notable work, and may also serve as the archetype of the Neoclassical era and what artists, and members of the hierarchy then strove for. Capturing a single, chaotic moment in a tumultuous time, Napoleon maintains control of the shrieking horse and the environs they dominate. In an ensemble fit for a patriot, dignifying and optimistic, David's painting of Napoleon suggests "everything about the leader suggests a forward trajectory," marking the end of a violent war and leaving behind remnants of a different era, and government. 

Though the means by which France clambered out of the Ancient Regime and monarchal period were gruesome and costly, the moral right that so many factions and radicals had strove for remained the same, for ideas such as equality and egalitarianism. The arts were recognized as a definitive tool that could be utilized by those in positions of power, and their wants and needs for the country as a whole could be seen in the works they commissioned.



Francois Boucher - 73 artworks - painting. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.wikiart.org/en/francois-boucher

Eschner, K. (2017, December 29). Madame de Pompadour Was Far More Than a 'Mistress'. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/madame-de-pompadour-was-far-more-mistress-180967662/

David Paintings, Bio, Ideas. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/artist/david-jacques-louis/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Taking of Christ, Caravaggio

Image
  The Taking of Christ, 1602, Oil on Canvas Though he was apprenticed to Simone Peterzano, a Venetian of the later Mannerist period, Michelangelo 'Caravaggio' Marisi's career first took hold in the early 1590's under the patronage of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte. It was in this manner Caravaggio was taken under the wing of the Roman Catholic Church, and amidst a transformational period in religious practice when the Church was still working to revitalize the piety of the individual and to influence the arts away from the unusual scale and color that was the Mannerist period.  This transitional period in Italian art--from the Mannerist to the Baroque--coincided with what is known as the Counter-Reformation of the Catholic Church, which took roots in a set of council meetings some 30-40 years prior in Trent, northern Italy, known as the Council of Trent. The objective of the Council was a return to the indisputable power of the Church, clarification of its doctrines
Read more

Pilot Bread Blog

Image
Good morning, My name is Addison Cox, I am a second year student about to receive my associates in general studies. I've been very ambivalent about which degree I wish to get. I'm from Utqiagvik, formerly Barrow, and was raised between there and Anchorage. I was living in Fairbanks for the last four or five years as it was just a single bush plane ride to Anaktuvuk Pass, where my oldest sister and my in-laws live. I enjoy hunting, fishing, camping and the simple pleasures afforded by rural life. My relationship to art is rooted in my father's passion for sketching mostly. The little time I spent with him while he was around I watched him sketch quite a bit his own iterations of motorcycles and cars. He was pretty big on Motor Trend and the like. But my sisters from my father's side of the family are all very gifted artists--my sister a relatively renown one at least in the arctic circle. As for me, I take to all forms and just appreciate modes of self expression. I real
Read more

Modern Art: The Influence of WW1

Image
 "Modernism took shape decades before World War I, but its clamorous arrival was vastly accelerated by the greatest collective trauma in history to that point." (Johnson, 2012). In the Western and industrialized world, it is evident the effect of the first World War had farther reaching consequences in both time and space. Though modernism began more than half a century prior, its definable characteristics such as the absent single point perspective or bizarre compositions wouldn't take their place in the progression of visual arts until after the Great War. Surrealism wouldn't be fully realized until life had become so visually bizarre and emotionally confounding artists, who were often made to fight for country against their will, had to put pen to paper or paint visually fragmented pieces to reflect personal experience. These experiences are delivered in bourgeoning movements post WW1 in Dadaism, an international movement that repudiated everyday conventions and in
Read more