Romanticism and Neoclassical painting: aesthetic contrasts and historical development

Romanticism & Neoclassical painting

Jacques- Louis David's "The Death of Socrates" seems clearly in the mode of Neoclassical art because of its choice of subject matter and its highly realistic style. However, although it is more Neoclassical than Romantic in its technique and proportions, it definitely has some Romantic elements. First of all, the work of art focuses on the individual, an iconoclastic philosopher, rather than a beautiful figure or a military hero. Socrates is a hero because of what he thought and spoke, not because of his form or his athleticism. The philosopher does not fear death and accepts his fate, in a Neoclassical mode of heroism, but he is also being condemned by a tyrannical decision of the state. This has Romantic underpinnings reflective of the French Revolution, when the art was created. Likewise, Angelica Kauffman's "Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures" 1785 shows a heroic mother valuing her children above all her worldly possessions. While the style of this work is reminiscent of David's Neoclassicism, the use of symbolism of human beings as invaluable treasures is also suggestive of later Romantic works, such as Delacroix's rendition of the spirit of the revolution embodied as a woman in "Liberty Leading the People." The work also shows sensitivity to the emotional side of life by its stress upon the political reformers' upbringing as one of motherly virtue and love, not simply manly heroism.

Discussion 2

Although the depiction of the beheading of a U.S. solider may be awful it is not an avante guard image of the war. To be avante guard is not the same thing as being anti-war. The image may stir the public's outrage and make Americans ask 'why are we fighting' but it does not humanize either the soldier or the Iraqi people. In fact, it dehumanizes the fighting man, as he is deprived even of the dignity of having a face and identity that his loved ones back home could recognize as human, and it dehumanizes the Iraqi people because it shows them as senseless killers. Truly radical images of war show not simply blood and violence, but humanize the opposing sides as individuals, causing the public to question their dearly cherished notions of national identity, religion, their sense of moral superiority, and their sense that the 'other side' is intrinsically different from 'their side' simply because their leaders tell them that this is the case in propaganda.