4.1 Neoclassicism & Romanticism

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism (late 1700s) revived Greco-Roman order, restraint, and moral seriousness. Jacques-Louis David's 'Oath of the Horatii' uses stern lines and civic virtue to echo Enlightenment and Revolutionary ideals.

Romanticism

Romanticism reacted with emotion, drama, and the sublime. Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People' and Goya's 'Third of May 1808' stir feeling over reason, celebrating passion, nature, and revolt.

Two moods

Neoclassicism prizes reason, clarity, and control; Romanticism prizes emotion, imagination, and the sublime power of nature and history.

Key terms

Neoclassicism

revived Greco-Roman order, reason, restraint

'Oath of the Horatii'

David — Neoclassical civic virtue

Romanticism

emotion, drama, the sublime

'Liberty Leading the People'

Delacroix — Romantic revolt

Goya's 'Third of May 1808'

the horror of war and execution

Try an AP-style question

David's Oath of the Horatii promotes…

1. personal emotion
2. untamed nature
3. civic virtue and sacrifice
4. romantic love