Neo-Classical Art and Romanticism Case Study

Art has always been used as a means of expression and of confirmation of events and movements that take place in the society in that respective period of time. The Neo-Classical and Romanticist art makes no exception to this rule and the two periods have been considered in the history of artistic art as two of the most representative for the expressivity they brought to the world of the arts as well as through the painters they inspired. Jacques-Louis David and Eugene Delacroix are two of the most representative painters of the New Classical period and the Romanticist art and their paintings are significant for the symbols and ideals these two periods provided for the artistic world.

Neo-classical art must be seen in the wider context of the 18th century and the era of Enlightenment when the new perceptions on the role of reason were redefined against the concepts of the religious directions of thought or the ones of the state. In this sense, the Enlightenment period was seen as a revolutionary move particularly because of the detachment from the previous era of the Renaissance in which the religious forces played a crucial role, especially in terms of painting. Therefore, the painters followed the path opened by writers such as Jane Austen, John Milton or Daniel Defoe that provided images of humans with flaws, physical and emotional, rather than to present them as symbols of perfection.From this point-of-view, the human being became a complex individual, guided by more than emotions of religious aspiration, whose reason would eventually prevail in the face of guided external thought.

The Romantic period on the other hand, despite the fact that it was still a reaction to the Renaissance line of thought had a different approach towards literature and arts. The Romantic hero was still flawed yet guided by inner feelings that most often transformed into deep passions and emotional outbreaks. Significant writers of this period include Victor Hugo, Keats, Blake, or Wordsworth.

In the arts world the two currents were clearly defined by the two painters, David and Delacroix. Both of them, through their masterpieces, portrayed the feelings of their time. David, in "Oath of the Horatii" depicts a scene from Ancient Rome in which an oath to defend Rome and restore peace is presented. The actual story and historical background of the image is significant for a thorough analysis, one that would further provide the proof that the image in itself is not a depiction of a historical truth but rather a result of the painter's imagination. However, it must be pointed out that the paining provides all the elements of a neo-classical work. It is inspired from a classical environment, that of ancient Rome,….....