History of neo-classical Age

History of Neo-classical Age 

Introduction

    Neoclassicism is the 18th and 19th century movement that developed in Europe as a reaction to the excesses of Baroque and Rococo styles that were dominant in the previous era. The movement sought to return to the classical beauty and magnificence of the Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

History

Neoclassicism 

     " The one way for us to Become great , perhaps inimitable , is by imtating the ancients ".

     Neoclassical art is based on simplicity and symmetry and takes its inspiration from the German art historian  johann joachim Winckelmann who believed that art should aim at the ideal forms and beauty of Greek art. Explore the Neoclassicism movement by starting from What is neoclassism ? and browse our curated list of artworks fom neoclassicism painters such as jacques-Louis David , jean-Auguste -Dominique lngers  and others.

    Neoclassicism is a revival of the classical past. It developed in Europe in the 18^th century when artists began to imitate Greek and Roman antiquity and painters of the Renaissance as a reaction to the excessive style of Baroque and Rococo. At first Neoclassicism developed in Rome at the beginning of the 18^th century, but then it spread all over Europe partly due to the Grand Tour; the trip in which European students travelled around the continent. At that moment great collections of antiquities began to be discovered and revaluated. These discoveries, such as the paintings and mosaics found at the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 1738, increased artistic fascination and curiosity for antiquity. Artists then according to winckelmann began to study Greek and Roman art, using this new knowledge of the past in their art, creating their own “new" classical style.

   The writings of johann joachim Winckelmann were important in shaping this movement in both architecture and the visual arts. His books Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture  and Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums were the first to distinguish sharply between Ancient Greek and Roman art, and define periods within Greek art, tracing a trajectory from growth to maturity and then imitation or decadence that continues to have influence to the present day. Winckelmann believed that art should aim at "noble simplicity and calm grandeur" and praised the idealism of Greek art, in which he said we find "not only nature at its most beautiful but also something beyond nature, namely certain ideal forms of its beauty, which, as an ancient interpreter of plato  teaches us, come from images created by the mind alone". The theory was very far from new in Western art, but his emphasis on close copying of Greek models was: "The only way for us to become great or if this be possible, inimitable, is to imitate the ancients".

    The neoclassical movement influenced decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music and architecture and it continued until the early 19th century, when it began to compete with another artistic movement,Romantisim Neoclassicism was also an important movement in the United States.

     The Industrial Revolution saw global transitionof human economy towards more efficient and stable manufacturing processes. There was tremendous material advancement and increased prosperity.With the advent of the grand tour , a fad of collecting antiquties  began that laid the foundations of many great collections spreading a Neoclassical revival throughout Europe. "Neoclassicism" in each art implies a particular canon of a "classical" model.

    Neoclassicism was strongest in architecture, sculpture  and the , where classical models in the same medium were relatively numerous and accessible; examples from ancient painting that demonstrated the qualities that Winckelmann's writing found in sculpture were and are lacking. Winckelmann was involved in the dissemination of knowledge of the first large Roman paintings to be discovered,at poepiie like most contemporaries except for Gavin Hemilton, was unimpressed by them, citing pilny the younger 's comments on the decline of painting in his period.

  Conclusion 

     Neoclassicism took inspiration from the ancient civilizations of Rome and Greece both for politics as well as for the architecture. In the United States ideals and principles have inspired neoclassical buildings and constructions. Washington, D.C. is still decorated with these facades of white marble, imitations of ancient monuments, and portraits of American presidents are depicted and carved in the manner of Roman emperors.