7.
By the end of the 18th century, America and Europe were caught up in the passions of the Revolution which
were to end three centuries of absolute monarchy. (The Battle of
Bunker's Hill, 6/17/1775, painted, 1786, John Trumbull, Yale University
Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut)
8.
The Enlightenment grew out of the Age of Louis in the 17th century…(Ceremony
in the King's Chambers, Francois Marot, 1666-1719, Museum of the Chateau of Versailles,
France)
9.
…and led to the era of the Revolutions at the end of the 18th century. (Taking
of the Bastille, painting, 18th century, anonymous French, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles,
France)
10.
To understand the Enlightenment as a style of life and of art, we must understand its heritage and foundation-in the
Baroque. (Marie
de'Medici
Arriving at Marseilles,
oil on canvas, 1622-1625, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
11.
The grandiose Baroque style of the 17th century-its flamboyance and drama…(Detail of number 10)
12.
…gave way, in the 18th century, to the lighthearted Rococo. (The Bathers,
oil on canvas, before 1756, Jean-Honore' Fragonard, The Louvre, Paris, France)
13.
(Spring, oil on canvas, 1730s, Nicolas Lancret, The Louvre, Paris, France)
14.
(The Peep Show, porcelain, 1760s, Mennecy factory, French, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut)
15.
(Main façade, Palace of Queluz, 1758, Mateus Vicente, near Lisbon, Portugal)
16.
(The Nest, oil on canvas, commissioned 1737, Francois Boucher, The Louvre, Paris, France)
17.
Rococo art was decorative-the last phase in a long history of artistic embellishments for the nobility.
(Interior, foyer to King's room, Wurzburg Palace, 1720-1744, Balthaser
Neumann, Wurzburg, Germany)
18. It was an expression
of the refined tastes of the aristocracy. (Group portrait, oil on canvas, 1756, Francois-Hubert,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H.
Kress Collection)
19.
To these people, life was beautiful and gay. They wanted more than anything to enjoy themselves…(A Game
of Blind Man's Bluff, oil on canvas, c. 1791, Francisco de Goya,
Prado, Madrid, Spain)
20.
…to give pleasure to their friends,…(The
Picnic After the Hunt, oil on canvas, c. 1740, Nicolas Lancret,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
21.
…and to collect the luxurious objects which made them feel gay, rich, and important. (Interior, royal suite
showing Rococo furniture, Schonbrunn Palace, 1696-1750,
Johann Fischer von Erlach, Vienna, Austria)
22.
(Necessaire with thimble, pen, made of tortoiseshell, gold, enamel, c.1773,
French, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
23.
(Interior of the Hall of Mirrors at the Amalienburg, 1734-1739, Francois de Cuvillies, Nymphenburg
Palace, Germany)
24.
(Tea Merchant and Lady, porcelain, 18th century, Meissen factory, German, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford,
Connecticut)
25.
(Gift table from Salon de la Pendule, Chateau de Versailles, 18th century, French, Versailles, France)
26. However, the Rococo style represents
only one aspect of the 18th century art. Some of the most important
ideas of the time were not expressed by the Rococo style. (Venus
consoling Love, oil on canvas, 1751, Francois Boucher, National
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Chester Dale)
27.
Instead, these ideas could be found expressed in the geometric, rigidly symmetrical, and formal plans of
the palaces and gardens of Europe. (Façade
of upper Belvedere Palace, 1700-1723, Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, Vienna, Austria)
28.
(View of the Orangerie at Versailles, designed by Andre Le Notre; executed by Mansart; painting by
Jean Cotelle, 1642-1708, Museum of the Chateau of Versailles, France)
29.
(View from the formal gardens, Bowood House, 1760s, the Adam Brothers, Wiltshire, England)
30.
(Bird's eye view of the Chateau and Gardens of Marly, painting by Jean-Baptiste Martin, 1659-1735,
Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
31.
(View across garden, Wurzburg
Palace, 1720-1744, Balthasar Neumann, Wurzburg, Germany)
32. The artistic father for these
splendid palaces and gardens was the greatest palace of the 17th century-Versailles.
(Perspective view of the Chateau de Versailles, oil on
canvas, 1668, Pierre Patal, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
33.
Louis XIV made Versailles into a splendid stage for his personal theatrical production-the absolute
rule of France. (Detail from the tapestry Louis XIV Entering Dunkirk,
from the series of tapestries of the History of the King, 17th century,
Gobelins factory, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
34. Dazzling in their vastness, the
palace and grounds were planned in such a way that King Louis seemed to be
imposing geometric order upon his world. (Façade of Chateau, seen across
Parterre d'Eau, Versailles, France, chateau 1669-1685, by J.H.
Mansart and Louis Le Vau, gardens 1667-1688, by Andre Le Notre)
35.
(View of gardens with chateau in distance, 1667-1688, Andre Le Notre, Versailles,
France)
36.
(Interior of Galerie
des Glaces, Chateau de Versailles, designed by
J.H. Mansart, decorated by Charles LeBrun, begun 1668, Versailles, France)
37.
The
buildings, fountains, and garden paths all spread outward
from the center in precise and measured harmony.
(View of gardens at Versailles, 1667-1688, Andre Le Notre)
38.
In every foot of their
manicured hedges, the grounds of Versailles express the idea that man controls
his world through reason and intellect. (Another view of number
37)
39.
What greater control over nature could man demonstrate than this? It is a
garden of tropical orange trees…(Detail of number 28)
40.
…all planted in pots, so that they could be brought indoors in cool weather. (Detail of number 28)
41.
This, indeed, was man creating an orderly universe. (The Orangerie today, Versailles, France)
42.
Versailles is a combination of two great intellectual and artistic traditions: the splendor and dramatic
scale of the 17th century,…(Another view of number
37)
43.
…along with the geometric order of that century. (View of gardens and chateau at Versailles, chateau 1669-1685
by Mansart and Levau, gardens 1667-1688 by A. Le Notre)
44.
The reign of Louis XIV represents the triumph of absolute monarchy. His success was so dazzling that all
the princes of Europe wanted to imitate him. (Portrait of Louis
XIV, marble sculpture Antoine Coysevox, 1640-1720, Church of Notre Dame,
Paris, France)
45.
Gorgeous palaces and gardens were built throughout France, Germany, and England. (Façade, Schonbrünn
Palace, 1695-1749, Johann Fischer von Erlach, Vienna, Austria)
46.
(Façade, Nymphenburg Palace, 1663-1723, Enrico Zucalli and G.A. Viscardi, Munich, Germany)
47.
(Façade, Amalienburg, 1734-1739, Francois de Cuvillies, Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Germany)
48.
(Oblique view, garden façade, Wurzburg
Palace, 1720-1744, Balthasar Neumann, Wurzburg, Germany)
49. The aristocracy of
all of Europe spoke French and followed French customs and dress. (Figure of man,
porcelain, 1746, modelled by J.J. Kaendler of the Meissen factory,
German, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut)
50.
They sponsored whole armies of artists who could make gorgeous objects like those they had seen at Versailles. (Detail
from tapestry of King Louis XIV visiting the Goblins Factory,
from series of tapestries of the History of the King, c. 1665,
Gobelins factory, Gobelins Museum, Paris, France)
51.
(Detail from 50)
52.
(Detail from 50)
53.
(Detail from 50)
54.
(Whole, tapestry of King Louis XIV visiting the Gobelins factory)
55.
Let us go back in time, to look at the two major traditions and styles of the 17th century. The Baroque
vision of the world expressed itself with an art that was dramatic, flamboyant, dynamic,...(The
Adoration of the Shepherds,
c. 1612-1614, El Greco, Prado, Madrid, Spain)
56.
…stupendous in scale,…(Baldachino, bronze, 1624-1633, Gianlorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's Vatican City,
Rome, Italy)
57.
…and filled with restless, swirling, curving and diagonal forms. (Fall
of
the Damned,
1620, Peter Paul Rubens, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany)
58. Another face of Baroque art in
the 17th century was turned toward a world of calm intellect and order.
(Landscape with Mill, oil on canvas, Sebastian Bourbon, 1616-1671, Museum
of Art, Rhode Island, School of
Design)
59.
On the left
is the painter Peter Paul Rubens. And on the right is another painter, Nicolas Poussin. What
do these two self-portraits show us about the Baroque age? (left:
Self-portrait, oil on canvas, c. 1638-1640, Peter Paul Rubens, Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna; right: Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 1650,
Nicolas Poussin, The Louvre, Paris, France)
60.
Rubens uses sweeping circles and eclipses to generate a sense of action in his composition. (Portrait
of Rubens)
61.
Poussin, on the other hand, fills his background with vertical and horizontal lines. (Detail of
Self-portrait by Poussin, number 59)
62.
He sets himself against rectangular picture frames, thereby giving his composition an orderly, geometric
appearance. (Same as number 61)
63.
In this Baroque landscape, the sky is filled with a stormy turbulence. The land is dramatically shadowed
by the threatening clouds. (The Cemetery, oil on canvas, c. 1660,
Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit,
Michigan)
64.
Poussin's world is populated by the heroes and buildings of classical Greece and Rome. (Detail, St. John
on Patmos, oil on canvas, c. 1645-1650, Nicolas Poussin, The Art
Institute of Chicago, A.A. Munger Collection)
65.
His landscapes are calm, reasonable, and orderly. (Detail from number 64)
66.
Is this not nature succumbing to the artist's rationale control? (Whole
of number 64)
67.
It was the dramatic and flamboyant in the Baroque…(Detail from the Presentation
of the Portrait, oil on canvas, 1622-1625, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, Franco)
68.
…which developed into the Rococo style. (Detail from Venus
Consoling Love,
oil on canvas, 1751, Francois Boucher, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., gift of Chester
Dale)
69.
On the other hand, the world view of intellect and order was also carried on into the Age of Enlightenment.
(The Draftsman, oil on canvas, 1737, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon
Chardin, Kaiser-Friedrich Museum, Berlin, Germany)
70.
During the 17th century, great discoveries in the sciences opened up new areas of knowledge. Galileo,
the astronomer, built a telescope in 1609. (Galileo displays his telescope)
71.
With it he could see that the planets had substance, like the earth, and that the stars were much farther
away than man had thought. (Reflecting telescope, engraving
from Encyclopedie ou Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts,
et des Metiers, edited by Diderot and d'Alembert, published 1751-1780 by
Briasson and others, Paris, France)
72.
Isaac Newton explained all movement, on earth and in the heavens, according to a mathematical formula.
(Portrait of Isaac Newton, engraving by W.T. Fry, after a painting
by Kneller, courtesy of The Bettmann Archive)
73.
In this way, the rigid order of a mathematical proof was imposed on human existence. (View of Versailles,
France)
74.
The 17th-century scientists made discoveries. It was for the 18th-century writers, known as philosophers,
like Denis Diderot,…(Portrait
of Denis Diderot, Dmitri Gregoriovitch Levitzki, 1735-1822, Museum of Art and History,
Geneva, Switzerland)
75.
…Jean Jacques Rousseau,…(Portrait of Rousseau, marble bust, Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1741-1828, Musee
Lambinet, Versailles, France)
76.
…and Voltaire, to popularize the difficult theories of the scientists. (Voltaire, marble bust, 1778, Jean-Antoine
Houdon, National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., Widener Collection)
77.
The philosophies made the new marvels of science understandable and exciting for everyone. (Detail, The
Swing, oil on canvas, c. 1765, Jean-Honore Fragonard, National Gallery
of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
78.
One of the most significant accomplishments of the philosophes was the publishing of an encyclopedia. Denis
Diderot was the editor. (Title page from the Encyclopedie ou Dictionnaire
Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts, et des Metiers, edited by Denis
Diderot and J.L. d'Alembert, published 1751-1780 by Briasson and
others, Paris, France)
79.
He gathered articles on every subject, written by experts, thus creating in his 34-volume encyclopedia
a collection of all the knowledge of the time. (Page from
the Encyclopedie showing man operating press, engraving)
80.
The encyclopedia was important as a reference work. (Page from the Encyclopedie showing birds classified
according to bill shape, engraving)
81.
It was important because it expressed throughout its pages belief that all knowledge was within man's grasp
and that, with knowledge, man could create a better world for himself.
(Study, oil on canvas, c. 1769, Jean-Honore Fragonard, The
Louvre, Paris, France)
82.
Men of the Enlightenment were dissatisfied with traditional ideas and religions. They rejected what they
felt to be the old religious superstitions…(Detail from Queen
Christine of Sweden and Her Court, Pierre Dumesnil, 1698-1781, Museum
of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
83.
…and filled their need for faith with a profound belief in the perfectibility of man through Reason. (Joseph
Bonnier de la Mosson, oil on canvas, 1745, Jean-Marc Nattier,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress
Collection)
84.
The confidence of 18th-century man was boundless. Never before or since has there been such a widespread
and profound belief in man and his ability to make progress towards
a better life. (Self-portrait, pastel, c. 1750-1760, Maurice Quentin de
la Tour, Musee de Picardie, Amiens, France)
85.
The Enlightenment faith in reason and perfection is reflected in one ofthe
most significant movements in the arts-called Academicism.
(Detail from The Drawing School in the Academy,
engraving by B.L. Prevost from original by C.N. Cochin the Younger,
1763, Courtauld Institute, London, England)
86.
Academicism included a respect for authority. Artists and architects relied upon rules and principles
that were rigidly enforced by the heads of the academies in England and France.
(A
Painter's Studio, oil on canvas, c. 1800, Louis-Leopold
Boilly, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., gift of Chester
Dale)
87.
Poussin was such an academic authority under Louis XIV. His Shepherds in Arcadia shows the contrived composition…(Shepherds
in Arcadia, oil on canvas, either 1639-1640 or 1642-1643,
Nicolas Poussin, The Louvre, Paris, France)
88.
…and classical subject matter which were so highly regarded by the
academic painters of the 17th
and 18th centuries. (Detail from number 87)
89. Obviously, the most important
yardstick for the French academics was the art of classical antiquity-the
art of the ancients. (Imperial pocession, portion of frieze around the Ara
Pacis, marble sculpture, Roman, 13-9 B.C.)
90. The civilization of the Greeks
and Romans was looked upon as a model…(Detail from number 89)
91. …and was translated into formulas
for art. (Detail from number 87)
92. Nature was seen mainly through
the eyes of classical reason and order. Pont du Gard, oil on canvas, c.
1787, Hubert Robert, The Louvre, Paris, France)
93. Joshua Reynolds, a famous English
painter of the 18th century, wrote: "We must have recourse to the ancients
as instructors…"(Self-portrait, Joshua Reynolds, 1723-1792, collection
of R.J. Hines)
94. …It is from a careful study of
their works that you will be able to
attain the real simplicity of nature."
(View of the Coliseum, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, c. 1692-1765, Beaux-Arts
Museum, Algeria)
95. We have seen that 18th-century
aristocrats encouraged a love of luxury. (Couple in hunting dress, porcelain,
1755, Chelsea factory, English, Collection of Judge I. Untermeyer)
96. To satisfy them, artists created
works of beauty and gaiety in the Rococo style. (Detail of ceiling decoration
from Salon de la Princesse, Hotel de Soubise, Paris, France, c. 1735-1740,
Germain Boffrand)
97. (China cabinet designed by Thomas
Chippendale the Elder, 1718-1779, engraving from The Gentleman and Cabinet
Maker's Director, published 1754, London, England)
98. (Interior of the Salon de la
Pendule, Versailles, c. 1738, French, photograph courtesy of Lauros-Giraudon)
99. (Group, Lady and Gentleman, porcelain,
c. 1780, Viennese factory, collection of Dr. F. Altman)
100.
(Plasterwork in White Salon, Wurzburg Palace, 1744, A. Bossi, Wurzburg,
Germany)
101.
But we have also talked of the 18th-century faith and orderliness…(The White
Table Cloth, oil on canvas, c. 1737, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, The Art
Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Coburn Memorial Collection)
102.
…and in reason, above all. (Detail from La Musique, Jacques-Francois Courtin,
1672-1752, Musee Dobree, Nantes, France)
103.
Eighteenth-century philosophers viewed the world as a perfectly working
machine, like a fine clock. (18th-century clock from Salon de la Princesse,
Hotel de Soubise, Paris, France)
104.
They looked upon God as a kind of watchmaker in the sky, overseeing the
complex workings of His orderly creation. (18th-century clock from Salon de la Pendule, Versailles, France)
The
Enlightenment: Part Two
1.
(Detail Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of Germanicus,oil
on canvas, 1768, Benjamin West, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven,
Connecticut)
2.
(Detail of number 1)
3.
(Detail of number 1)
4.
(Detail of number 1)
5.
(Detail of number 1)
6.
Eighteenth-century artists and philosophers concerned themselves with
the attainment of larity and orderliness. (Repeat view of whole ofnumber
1)
7.
This desire for an orderly universe reminds us of the Renaissance. (The
Delivery of the Keys, fresco, c. 1482, Pietro Perugino, Sistine Chapel,
Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
8.
The values of the Renaissance-admiration for order…(The Annunciation,
fresco, c. 1440-1450, Fra Angelico, San Marco, Florence, Italy)
9.
…and inspiration from classical antiquity-were also very important to
the artists of the Age of Enlightenment. (St. Sebastian, oil on canvas, Andrea Mantegna, c. 1431-1506, The Louvre, Paris,
France)
10. The Enlightenment is a direct outgrowth
of the scientific inquiry into the physical world in the Renaissance.
This is an anatomical study by Vesalius, a Renaissance scientist. (Detail from
page of anatomical studies by Andreas Vesalius, 1514-1564, courtesy
of Mrs. L.B. McCandless, Greenwich, Connecticut)
11.
In Rembrandt's Anatomy
Lesson, the gentlemen are looking at an open volume of an anatomy text at the foot of a cadaver.
(Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, oil on canvas, 1632, Rembrandt,
Mauritshuis, The Hague, Holland)
12.
It is identified as one written by Vesalius. (Detail from number 11)
13.
Thus, Rembrandt, a 17th-painter, illustrates the continuity of the scientific interests of the Renaissance with
those of the 18th-century.(Detail from number 11)
14.
The spirit of scientific inquiry in the Enlightenment reached extreme
limits when an elegant 18th-century lady kept a cadaver in her carriage
to study anatomy in her spare moments. (Detail from Entrance to Arras
of Louis XIV and Marie-Therese, Adam Frans van der Meulen, 1632-1690, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
15.
To Enlightenment artists, the Renaissance served as model and formula. Raphael was particularly respected. (Detail,
The
School of Athens,fresco, 1510-1511, Raphael, Vatican Museums,
Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
16.
His classical subjects and use of geometric perspective and symmetry appealed to the system-loving intellects of
the Enlightenment.(Marriage
of the Virgin, c. 1504, Raphael, Brera Museum, Milan, Italy)
17.
The spirit of the Enlightenment, in its balance and symmetry, is reflected
in Newton's third law, which says that to every action there is always opposed an equal reaction. (Detail
from A Woman Holding a Balance, oil on canvas, c. 1664, Jan Vermeer,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection)
18.
It is no coincidence that Montesquieu, an 18th-century philosopher, called for a symmetrical government of checks
and balances! (Portrait of Montesquieu, painting, 18th century, anonymous
French Versailles, France)
19.
This was the logical outcome of faith in man's reason and of the reaction against the unbalanced, powerful, absolutist
monarchies of Europe. (Portrait of Louis XV, as a boy at 5,
oil on canvas, 1715, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles,
France)
20.
The political and scientific ideas of the Enlightenment were discussed and debated in the fashionable salon, the 18th-century
equivalent of the modern cocktail party. (Detail from The
Concert at Sans Souci, 18th-century painting, courtesy of The Bettmann
Archive)
21.
(An English Tea at the Home of the Prince of Conti, painting, 1766, Michel Barthelemy Ollivier, The Louvre, Paris,
France)
22.
(The Concert, engraving by A.J. Duclos, after a drawing by Augustin de Saint-Aubin, c. 1773, Kunstsammlungen der Veste,
Coburg, Germany)
23.
(Detail,
A Game of Hot Cockles, oil on canvas, c. 1767-1773, Jean-Honore Fragonard, National Gallery of Art,
Washington D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
24.
(Detail from Queen Christine of Sweden and Her Court, Pierre Dumesnil,1698-1781,
Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
25.
The salons were conducted by well-known ladies like Madame de Pompadour. (Portrait of Mme. De Pompadour, oil
on canvas, 1759, Francois Boucher, The Louvre, Paris, France)
26.
In her salon, the brilliant gathered to hear Voltaire's wit…(Voltaire
at his desk, maquette in cut stone, 18th-century, anonymous, Municipal Museum, St.-Germain-en-Laye, France)
27.
…or to listen while the child Mozart played the piano…(Detail from
number 21)
28.
…or to chat with that delightful American, Benjamin Franklin, who succeeded
particularly in charming the ladies. (Detail from Franklin at the Court of France, 1778, engraving by W.O.
Geller, 1830, courtesy of the Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut)
29.
Some painters of the 18th-century, like Watteau and Fragonard, illustrated
the decadence of the aristocracy,…(Embarkation for Cythera, oil on canvas, 1717, Jean-Antoine Watteau, The
Louvre, Paris, France)
30.
…as they danced and flirted away their lives in the years before the Revolution. (Detail from Bal Masque at the Galerie
des Glaces, from an engraving by Charles Nicolas Cochin le jeune,
Bibliotheque Nationale,Paris, France)
31.
(Detail from number 29)
32.
(Detail from Mannikin, oil on canvas, 1791-1792, Francisco de Goya, Prado, Madrid, Spain)
33.
(The Enchanter, oil on copper, Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1684-1721, Museum, Troyes, France)
34.
(Concert Champetre, Jean-Baptiste Pater, 1695-1736, Beaux-Arts Museum, Valenciennes, France)
35.
However, many of the intellectuals and artists of the period held an
increasing interest in the middle and working classes. (Ladies with Water Jugs, Francisco de Goya, 1746-1828)
36.
These painters, like Chardin, avoided the frivolous, decorative style of the Rococo. They chose instead clear and
simple compositions,…(The
Kitchen-maid, oil on canvas, 1738, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin,
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
37.
…selecting charming middle-class children as their subjects…(The
House of Cards, oil on canvas, c. 1738, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon
Chardin, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew
Mellon Collection)
38.
(The
Young Governess, oil on canvas, c. 1739, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, National Gallery of Art, Washington,
D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
39.
(Boy with Top, oil on canvas, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, 1699-1779, The Louvre, Paris, France)
40.
…or a carefully arranged domestic still-life, like this one. (Still Life, oil on canvas, c. 1755, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon
Chardin, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., gift of Chester
Dale)
41.
The longing for simplicity which these works reflect was a reaction to the pomp of the court. (The Kitchen table, oil
on wood, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, 1699-1779, The
Louvre, Paris, France)
42.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was to have great influence, even on Queen Marie Antoinette, in his writings advocating the simple,
country life. (Portrait of Marie Antoinette, oil on canvas, c.
1783, attributed to Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, National Gallery of
Art, Washington, D.C., Timken Collection)
43.
The Queen had a country village imported and assembled on one corner of the grounds at Versailles. (Hamlet at Versailles,
general view of façade, Richard Mique and Hubert Robert, c. 1780)
44.
There she and her court could play at being shepherds and milkmaids.
(Detail of number 43)
45.
They could dress informally and behave naturally, without having to assume the artificial manners of the court.
(Detail of number 43)
46.
The 18th century interest in Nature may be traced back through European history in an uninterrupted flow, at least to
the Middle Ages. (The Fete at Rambouillet, oil on canvas, c. 1780,
Jean-Honore Fragonard, Calouste Gulbenkian foundation, Lisbon, Portugal)
47.
(The Flight into Egypt, 1308-1311, Duccio, Cathedral Museum, Sienna, Italy)
48.
(The
Flight into Egypt, c. 1500, Vittore Carpaccio, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection;
with overlay)
49.
(The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1583-1587, Jacopo Tintoretto, Scuola
de San Rocco, Venice, Italy; with overlay)
50.
However, 18th-century artists, as artists of all periods, looked upon nature in their own way. (Mountain
Landscape with a Bridge, oil on canvas, c. 1785, Thomas Gainsborough,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
51.
The view of nature held in the 18th-century is reflected both in Marie Antoinette's farmhouse, which expresses the
longing for a simple, innocent country life, and…(Another general
view of number 43)
52.
…in these complex hedges, with their suggestions that man is able to control the world through Reason. (View of gardens
at Versailles, 1667-1688, Andre Le Notre)
53.
During the Renaissance, artists sought to control their world through the use of perspective. (Draftsman drawing lute,
perspective study, woodcut, 1525, Albrecht Durer)
54.
This pursuit of an orderly, mathematical universe comes to full flower with the scientific theories of Newton on one
hand…(View of number 53 with overlay of Newton's formula)
55.
…and these clipped hedges on the other. (Another view of number 52)
56.
This ordering of nature reached an amusing extreme in the garden mazes and labyrinths on the estates of the nobility.
(Gardens of the Chateau at Villandry, Villandry, France)
57.
Not all mazes were in gardens, however. The love on intellectual puzzles
in the 18th-century could also be found in the complex musical compositions
of the times. (Detail from Portrait of Louis du Bouchet, Marquis de Sourches, and His Family, by Francois-Hubert
Drouais,1727-1775, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
58.
An example of this is the chamber music composition called, "The Musical Offering." It was written by Johann
Sebastian Bach for King Frederick the Great. (Score page from "The
Musical Offering")
59.
Frederick was King of Prussia and played the flute rather well. He composed a flute theme and gave it to Bach,
asking him to write some variations on it. (Detail from The Concert at
Sans Souci, 18th-century painting, courtesy of The Bettmann Archive)
60.
Bach, like Diderot, had an encyclopedic mind. He used all kinds of
musical language to write his "Musical Offering." (Portrait
of Johann Sebastian Bach, E. Haussman, courtesy of the
Francis G. Mayer Art Color Slide Company)
61.
He began with Frederick's flute theme…(Score page from "The Musical
Offering")
62.
(Score page from "The Musical Offering")
63.
He then proceeded to write 13 different units; each one a variation on this same theme; each one with the same basic
melody;…(Bach with score of "The Musical Offering")
64.
…but each one quite different from every other. They are a series of brilliant intellectual inventions. (Bach with
score of "The Musical Offering")
65.
Let us listen again to Frederick's theme, which opens "The Musical Offering," and then see what Bach does
with it. (Whole of number 59)
66.
(Same as number 59)
67.
This music is built like the rounds we all sing, but is much more complicated. (18th-century orchestra group,
engraving, courtesy of the Bettmann Archive)
68.
(Engraving of 18th-century musicians)
69.
Musicians describe these techniques with words like fugue, canon, or ricercar. The word fugue means chase, and we
can hear the melody being chased by the same melody, only played a little
later, and by a different instrument. (Detail from La Musique,
Jacques-Francois Courtin, 1672-1752, Musee Dobree, Nantes, France)
70.
(Engraving of 18th-century musicians)
71.
The word canon means rule or law. The whole composition is a skillful
use of musical rules in a variety of ways. (Same as number 70)
72.
(Same as number 70)
73.
Bach's love of musical structure, his scholarship, his encyclopedic ambition, all combine to identify him as a man
of the Enlightenment. (Same as number 60)
74.
Just as nature had been a constantly recurring theme in European history, so the interest in classical antiquity
appears again and again. (Burning of Rome, Hubert Robert, 1733-1808,
New Museum, Le Havre, France)
75.
In the arts, classicism during the 18th-century meant the attainment of the highest standard of beauty. (Temple in Ruins,
drawing, Hubert Robert, 1733-1808, Beaux-Arts Museum, Lille,
France)
76.
Thomas Jefferson was an architect as well as a farmer and politician.(Portrait
of Thomas Jefferson, oil on canvas, American)
77.
He designed the University of Virginia…(Façade of Rotunda, University
of Virginia, begun 1817, Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, VA)
78.
…with the buildings of ancient Rome in mind. (Façade of the Pantheon, A.D.,120-124, Rome, Italy)
79.
The statehouse of Virginia, at his suggestion, was modeled after a Roman temple…(Façade of State house of Virginia,
1785-1792, Thomas Jefferson, Richmond, Virginia)
80.
…called the Maison Carree. Jefferson said of the building that he could sit gazing whole hours at the Maison Carree,
like a lover at his mistress. (The Maison Carree at Nimes, built
in 16 B.C. by Roman architects; painting by Hubert Robert, 1733-1808,
in the collection of The Louvre, Paris, France)
81.
This is an office building, designed by a French architect of the 18th-century. (Façade, The Director's Pavillion,
Salt Mines at Arc-et-Senans, 1773-1775, Claude-Nicholas Ledoux)
82.
And this is a temple in Italy, built during the 5th century B.C. (View of Temple of Ceres, 5th century B.C., Greek
architect, Paestum, Italy)
83.
The ancients were important in the politics of the Enlightenment as well. The philosophers of the Enlightenment
were dissatisfied with their political situation-a corrupt and all-powerful
monarchy. (The Family of Charles IV, oil on canvas, 1800, Francisco
de Goya, Prado, Madrid, Spain)
84.
They looked to Greece and Rome, especially Republican Rome, for the model of a better government. (View of Roman
forum, showing Arch of Titus, c. A.D. 81 and Colosseum, dedicated in
A.D. 80)
85.
We have seen that the men of the Enlightenment had great confidence in
their ability to reason out their problems. (The
Skater, Gilbert Stuart, 1755-1828, National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
86.
And we have talked of Montesquieu, with his opposition to absolute monarchy, and his suggestion of a government
of checks and balances.(Print of Liberty with Balances, 19th-century,
American, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)
87.
King Louis XV said, in 1766: "The supreme authority is vested in my
person alone, the legislative power is mine, public order stems from
me-I am its highest representative." (Portrait of Louis XV,
Carle van Loo, 1705-1765, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles,
France)
88.
However, Jean Jacques Rousseau, in his Social Contract, observed about conditions
in the 18th-century that "Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains." (A Peasant Carrying
the Burden of the Clergy and Aristocracy on His Back, engraving, 1789, Musee
Carnavalet, Paris,France)
89.
And he continued by suggesting that the best kind of government should be based upon an agreement between the people
and the ruler-the people giving the ruler his power in exchange for his
promise to do their will, (The Oath of the Tennis Court, sketch
for the painting, c. 1789, Jacques-Louis David, Museum of the Chateau
at Versailles, France)
90.
In 1775 the "shot heard 'round the world" was fired. The American Revolution was to have an electrifying effect
on the Europe of the absolute monarchies. (A Battle of the Revolutionary
War, print, 19th century, American)
91.
What the Americans had done-and done successfully-was to shift the responsibility for government to the shoulder
of all the citizens.(Declaration of Independence, oil on canvas,
1786-1794, John Trumbull,Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven,
Connecticut)
92.
American state constitutions and the Declaration of Independence were translated into French. (Facsimile of the Declaration
of Independence)
93.
We hold these truths to be self-evident…(Detail from 91)
94.
Nous tenons ces verites pour evidentes…(Detail from number 89)
95.
…That all men are created equal…(Detail from number 91)
96.
…que tous les hommes naissent egaux…(Detail from number 89)
97.
…that they are endowed…with certain unalienable rights…(Detail from number 91)
98.
…qu'ils possedent certains droits inalienables…(Detail from number 89)
99.
…that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.(Detail
from 91)
100.
…parmi lesquels nous comptons la vie, la liberte, et la quete du
bonheur. (Detail from number 89)
101.
The paintings of Jacques-Louis David were to have special meaning for Frenchmen, inspired by the Americans. (Portrait
of Jacques-Louis David, oil on canvas, c. 1815, Georges Rouget, National
Gallery of Art,Washington, D.C., Chester Dale Collection)
102.
He chose subject matter from Greek and Roman history. (The
Death of Socrates, 1787, Jacques-Louis David, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, Wolfe Fund, 1931)
103.
Appropriate to the time, his paintings carried a propaganda message.(Detail
from number 102)
104.
Finished in the crucial year 1789, this painting entitled The Lictors Bringing Back to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons
suggests…(The
Lictors Bringing Back to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons, oil
on canvas,1789,Jacques-Louis David, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford,
Connecticut)
105.
…that if this Roman consul could make the supreme sacrifice of condemning his own treacherous sons to death,…(Detail
of Brutus from number 104)
106.
…then Frenchmen should also make great personal sacrifices for the causes of liberty, fraternity, and equality.
(Detail of women from number 104)
107.
The political philosophy of the Enlightenment was given inflammatory purpose by David. (Repeat of number 104)
108.
In his Oath
of the Horaces, painted in 1784, the subject was again from Roman antiquity. (Oath of the Horaces, oil on
canvas, finished 1785, Jacques-Louis David, The Louvre, Paris,
France, photograph courtesy of La Phototheque Europeeme: Giraudon)
109.
The three brothers pledge to fight and to die for freedom and the Roman Republic. (Detail from number 108)
110.
The women weep at the thought of their patriotic sacrifice. (Detail
from number 108)
111.
No Frenchman could mistake the message! (Repeat of number 108)
112.
The Age of Enlightenment had begun basking in the glories of King Louis
XIV's Court. (Detail, Ceremony in the King's Chambers, Francois Marot,
1666-1719, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
113.
But in its love and luxury,…(Porcelain room, decorated with black laquer, 18th-century, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,
Italy)
114.
…its fascination with science,…(Balloon Ascent, engraving from Opuscoli, Agostino Gerli, published in 1785
by Stamperia Reale, Parma, Italy)
115.
…its pursuits of the world of ideas, it forgot to listen to the cries of the common man-for equality and justice.
(Detail from Portrait of Queen Marie Leczinska, oil on canvas, c. 178,
Jean-Marc Nattier, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, France)
116.
The Age of the Enlightenment ended in dismay-with the rising up on violence of the new forces for reform-for REVOLUTION!
(Liberty Leading the People against he Barricades, oil on
canvas, 1830, Eugene Delacroix, The Louvre, Paris, France)
This
video is available in the Curriculum Resources section of the Kennedy Library
under Call Number Vid.C H629T Pt. 6.
