Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment Essay -- Neoclassical Movement

Neoclassicism and the EnlightenmentThe Enlightenment was a time of great innovation and evolution. One ofthe most significant movements which owes at least the majority of itsbeginnings to the Enlightenment is the architectural and artisticmovement of Neoclassicism. This Neoclassicism of the mid eighteenth tomid nineteenth centuries is one that valued ancient Greek, Roman, andEtruscan artistic ideals.These ideals, including order, symmetry, and balance, were consideredby many European gen timetions to be the highest point of artisticexcellence. Although many movements in European art were largelydevoid of classical characteristics, they were always looked to assources of consumption and were revived as significant movements atleast three times throughout European history, in the twelfth century,during the Renaissance, and during the age of the present topic, theEnlightenment, with its development of Neoclassicism. there are several events and movements within the Enlightenment thatc ontributed to the rise of Neoclassicism. The expansion, evolution,and redefinition of the European standard classical education was oneof the greatest causes, as well was the then new archeologicaldiscoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The rise in commissioned artand architecture and the refinement of art scholarship also gave riseto this movement. Finally, the general reaction to the exorbitantstyles of baroqueness and fancy necessitated a return to the more orderlyideals of antiquity.The Neoclassical movement, for the purposes of this paper, can bedefined as the movement that, from 1750 to 1830, looked back to theGreek and Roman artists, philosophers, and ideals as the highest pointin artistic achievement and then attempted to combine antiquitysfeelings of solidarity and harmony with new designs to create avibrant and exciting, yet distinguished and suppress art form. Fromthe rustic hut to Doric to Corinthian the art of the ancients wasseen as a perfect blend of order, symmetr y, and simplicity of style.1This is what the artists and architects of France, England, and Italysought to integrate into their art.One of the earliest causes for the rise of Neoclassicism is thereaction by many Enlightenment thinkers to Rococo and Baroque art. TheBaroque was too busy and ornamental for many people and ... ...ding Baroque and Rococo forms.Neoclassicism was the dominant art form through a turbulent period inhistory. It influenced and weathered several national revolutions andinternational wars and because of its strength and balance, perhapsthe era was made all the stronger because of the art and architecturethat was the backdrop for the action of the age.BibliographyIrwin, David. Neoclassicism. London, Phaidon, 1997.Watkin, David. German Architecture and the Classical Ideal. Cambridge,MIT Press 1987.Rosenblum and Janson. 19th Century Art. New York, Abrams, 1984.Sculpture, 1760-1840. Eighteenth-Century Studies Vol. 34 (2000) one hundred thirty-fiveHutton, J. Neocl assicism. CHOICE Current Reviews for AcademicLibraries. Vol. 35 (1998) 1843http//virtual.park.uga.edu/232/voc/neoclassicism.voc.htmlhttp//www.grovereference.com/TDA/Samples/Neo.htmhttp//mistral.culture.fr/lumiere/documents/files/imaginary_exhibition.htmlhttp//mistral.culture.fr/lumiere/documents/files/cadre_historique.html---------------------------------------------------------------------1 http//www.dictionary.com/search?q=neoclassicism2 Irwin, 873 Irwin, 98