ap art history term 3 test 1

AP Art History

Term 3

Test 1

Return from Cythera• 1717, Jean-Antoine Watteau• Official examination work for admission

to membership in Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture

• = Fete galante or elegant outdoor entertainment

• He created a new type of painting• It depicts a dream world in which nicely

dressed couples depart for or leave the mythical island of love

• Idyllic vision with overtones of meloncholy

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The Signboard of Gersaint• C. 1721, Watteau• Painted for the art dealer, Gersaint, and his shop• He painted this at the end of his life• Paintings from Venetian and Netherlandish schools shown• The gallery visitors were elegant people and create an atmosphere of aristocratic

sophistication• Portrait of Louis XIV shown - may be reference to Gersaint’s shop and suggests the passage

of time• Many elements that act as memento mori or reminders of mortality• Vanitas emblems like the straw also shown



Triumph of Venus• C. 1740, Francois Boucher• Entered workshop of engraver• Hired to reproduce Watteau’s paintings• Studied at French Academy in Rome• Madame de Pompadour = his main

patron• Decorated many royal residencies at

Versailles and Fontainebleau• Chief inspector at Gobelines Tapestry

Manufactory• Best known for his mythological scenes

in pastoral settings• First painter to Louis XV



The Meeting from The Love of the Shepherds• 1771-73, Jean-Honore Fragonard• Studied under Chardin and Boucher• Won the Prix de Rome and entered into

Royal French Academy• Created 14 works for Louis XV’s last

mistress, Madame du Barry to decorate her Chateau

• Shows secret encounter btwn young man and his sweetheart

• He used rapid brushwork• Madame du Barry rejected the works as

old-fashioned & commissioned another set in a Neo-classical style

• Rococo was ending



Boy with a Top• Jean-Simeon Chardin• Shows Rousseau’s view of

Enlightenment• Empiricism• Learning by doing• Frames themes of Enlightenment



Portrait of Maria Antoinette with Her Children• 1787, Marie-Louise-Elizabeth Vigee-

Lebrun• Leading portraitist• Was Queen Marie Antoinette’s favorite

painter• Portrayed the Queen with her children in

conformity with the Enlightenment theme of the “good mother”

• Queen = kindly, stabilizing presence for her kids was meant to counterbalance her selfish public image

• Alludes to allegory of Abundance, suggesting peace and prosperity of society under the reign of Louis XVI



Oath of the Horatii• 1784-85, Jacques-Louis David• He was the leading French

Neoclassical painter who dominated French art during the Revolution

• He won the Prix de Rome• His work extolled the antique virtues of

stoicism, masculinity, and patriotism (= anti-Rococo)

• Reflects the taste and values of Louis XVI who was sympathetic to the Enlightenment

• The king believed art should improve public morals

• D’Angiviller = King’s minister of arts who banned indecent nudity from the Salon

• He commissioned a series of educational paintings of French history, this work was one

• 3 sons represent Rome against the Curatii

• Women show emotional commitment to family ties

• Lesson in republican citizenship



Death of Marat• 1793, David• Commissioned by the Jacobins in

tribute to one of their slain leaders, Jean-Paul Marat

• David was a deputy to the National Convention and was named propaganda minister

• He was supportive of the Reign of Terror and Robespierre

• He played down the drama and showed its quiet, still aftermath

• Combined reductive Neoclassical style with a Caravaggesque naturalism



Cupid and Psyche• 1787-93, Antonio Canova• He was the leading Neoclassical

sculptor• Worked under the guidance of the

Scottish painter Gavin Hamilton• Specialized in grand public monuments

and erotic mythological subjects• Illustrates the love story of Cupid,

Venus’ son, and Psyche, a beautiful mortal who aroused the goddess’ jealousy

• Jupiter gives Psyche immortality• He chose the most emotional and

tender part of the story• He combined a Romantic interest in

emotion with a more typically Neoclassical appeal to the combined senses of sight and touch



The Marriage Contract from Marriage a la Mode• 1743-45, William Hogarth• Greatly inspired by satire• Trained as a portrait painter and thought art

should contribute to improvement of society• Subject inspired by Joseph Addison’s

Spectator, which promoted the concept of marriage based on love

• Shows the disastrous result of a union not based on love

• Marriage contract of Lord Squanderfield



Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces• 1765, Sir Joshua Reynolds• Specialized in portraiture• Studied in Italy, settled in London• Appreciated classical history of painting• Appointed first president of the Royal

Academy• He wrote the 15 Discourses to the Royal

Academy, which derived his theories on art• He tried to elevate portraiture to the level of

history painting• Bunbury plays the part of a Roman

priestess making a sacrifice to the personifications of female beauty, the 3 Graces



Portrait of Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan• 1785-87, Thomas Gainsborough• Shows the professional singer seated

informally outside• The sloping view + the tree frame are

borrowed straight from Van Dyck• He modernized the formula thru the

lighter, Rococo palette and by integrating the woman into the landscape

• He identifies her with the landscape• Her hair matches the tree foliage• Manifests a value of the Enlightenment:

the emphasis on nature and the natural as sources of goodness and beauty



Chiswick House• 1724-29, Richard Boyle, Lord

Burlington• Advocated a return to the austerity and

simplicity found in the architecture of Andrea Palladio

• Designed by Boyle• Only 2 entrances• Main entrance = Roman temple front• Great evocation of Palladio’s design in

Villa Rotunda• Gardens and interior by William Kent



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An Experiment on a Bird in the Air-Pump• 1768, Joseph Wright• Shows Enlightenment concern with

developments in the natural sciences• Trained as a portrait painter• Belonged to Lunar Society, a group of

industrialists and progressive nobles• He painted a series of “entertaining”

scenes to popularize science• The lighting suggests science brings

light into a world of darkness and ignorance

• It also adds a spiritual dimension, for during the Baroque, such lighting was used for religious scenes

• Here science replaces religion as the great light and hope of humanity

• This theme is also shown in the devout expressions of some observers



Brighton Pavilion• John Nash• Synthesis of classical Mughal, Islamic,

Chinese - called “Indian Gothic”• Created for George IV• Free, playful• Romanticism• Opposite of neoclassicism• Iron incorporated



Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures

• 1785, Angelica Kauffman• Friends with Joshua Reynolds• One of 2 women named among the

founding members of the Royal Academy

• Embarked on an independent career as a history painter

• Painted for an English patron after returning to Italy

• The story takes place in the 2nd century BCE during the Republican era of Rome

• A woman visitor shows Cornelia her jewels and in response, Cornelia shows her 2 sons

• She exemplifies the “good mother”• Subjects often depicted to teach

lessons in virtue



The Death of General Wolfe• 1770, Benjamin West• Traveled to Rome and became a

student of Mengs• Lived in London and specialized in

neoclassical paintings• Founding member of the Royal

Academy• Men shown in modern dress rather than

ancient garb• Event from 7 Years War: Battle of

Quebec• Struggle btwn Britain and France for

control of various overseas land• Asymmetrical triangular composition• Indian = exotic interest and emblem of

natural• Postures meant to suggest a kind of

Lamentation over the dead Christ• The emotional intensity helped launch

the Romantic movement in British painting



Samuel Adams• C. 1770-72, John Singleton Copley• Adams is conservatively dressed and

looks sternly out at the viewer, who occupies the place of Thomas Hutchinson (royal gov.)

• Adams was a member of the Massachusetts legislature

• Adam points to the charter and seal granted to MA by King William and Queen Mary

• In his right hand, he grasps a petition prepared by the aggrieved citizens of Boston

• Vivid realism• Sense of immediacy• His stance conveys the moral force of

his demands, which are impelled not by emotion, but by reason

• The charter insists on the rule of law• The columns behind him connote

republican virtue and rationality



Watson and the Shark• 1778, Copley• Neoclassical triangular composition• Watson commissioned the piece• He was involved in the slave trade and

was attacked by a shark• He is in the pose of a warrior from

ancient art• Exoticism: occurs in India• Sublime: terrifying and exhilarating• Aesthetics of disaster• Collision of forces



Monticello• 1769-82, Thomas Jefferson,

Charlottesville, VA• TJ’s VA residence• He was a self-taught architect who

shared the British aristocratic taste for Palladio

• Redesigned Monticello many times• Building began based on a design

reminiscent of Villa Rotunda• Next built in a French manner• Simplicity and combination of temple

front and dome - very close to Chiswick House



George Washington• 1788-92, Jean-Antoine Houdon• Portraiture was his specialty• Won the Prix de Rome• Committed to neoclassical style• Commissioned by VA state legislature• Combined naturalism with the new

classicism that many were beginning to identify with republican politics

• The serene expression and relaxed contrapposto derive from sculpted images of classical athlete

• The support acts as a symbol of authority



Brandenburg Gate• 1788-91, • Commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II

to represent peace• Designed by Karl Gotthard Langhans,

the Court Superintendent of Buildings• Incorporated into Berlin Wall• Today stands as a symbol of

reunification of the 2 sides of Berlin• The model for design was the

Propylaea in Athens, the monumental entrance to the acropolis

• Meant to represent the access to the most important city of the Prussian kingdom

• Founded the Classic age of architecture in Berlin

• Crowned with a quadriga depicting the goddess of victory “who brings peace”

• Personifications of virtues like friendship and statesmanship are shown, along with symbols of arts and sciences

• Reliefs with exploits of Hercules allude to the time of wars and the following time of reconstruction



Grande Odalisque• 1814, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres• Taught by David• Inspired by Raphael rather than antique

art• Emulated precise drawing, formal

idealizition, classical components, and graceful lyricism

• Won the Prix de Rome• Served as director of the French

Academy• Odalisque = female slave or concubine

in a sultan’s harem• Cool gaze of women levels at her

master• Commitment to fluid line and elegant

postures• Treated in a highly personal, almost

Mannerist fashion• Her long back, wide hips, and her small

boneless feet are anatomically incorrect, but aesthetically compelling



Napoleon at the Plague House at Jaffa• 1804, Antoine-Jean Gros• Worked in David’s studio• Competed with him for commissions

from Napoleon• Introduced elements of Romanticism in

his work• Became official chronicler of

Napoleon’s military campaigns• An idealized account of an actual

incident• Napoleon and his healthy men are

shown visiting the sick and dying who were housed in a converted mosque in the Palestinian town of Jaffa

• Inspired by the Oath of Horatii• Overall effect = Romantic (dramatic

lighting, wealth of emotionally stimulating elements, *action meant to incite veneration, not public virtue)

• Napoleon shown like a Christ-like figure healing a soldier



Raft of the Medusa• 1818-1819, Theodore Gericault• Bodies organized on crossed diagonals• Rising diagonal shows their rising hopes• The diagonal that begins in the lower right

directs our attention to the huge wave• The men remain suspended between

salvation and death• The “hopeful” diagonal ends in the figure of

a black man, Jean Charles, and may have political meaning

• Gericault suggests metaphorically that freedom for all of humanity will only occur when the most oppressed member of society is emancipated

• Culmination of extensive study and research

• He built up the composition figure by figure• He didn’t depict the actual physical

condition of the survivors of the raft• He gave his men athletic bodies and

vigorous poses, evoking the work of Michelangelo and Rubens

• Speaks to us as humanity against nature, hope against despair, life against death



Scenes from the Massacre at Chios• 1822-24, Eugene Delacroix• Colleague of Gericault• Depicted victims and antiheroes• The Turkish fleet stopped at the

peaceful Greek island of Chios and took revenge by killing many of the inhabitants and selling the rest into slavery

• This occurred during the Greeks’ struggle for independence against the Turks

• Based the painting on journalistic reports, eyewitness accounts, and study of Greek and Turkish costumes

• Image of savage violence and utter hopelessness

• Made seductive through its rich display of handsome bodies and colorful costumes



Liberty Leading the People: July 28, 1830• Delacroix• Celebrated the day during the 1830

Revolution that the people rose and fought for their liberty

• He used the painting as a political poster for the revolution

• He was a member of the National Guard, and placed himself as the main wearing the top hat

• Shows great range of human emotion from heroism to angry despair that is a central characteristic of French Romanticism

• Sense of movement and energy• Breaks with the tradition and applies

brilliant and shocking traces of pure pigment

• Liberty rushes over the piled debris of barricades, by then a traditional signifier of Parisian rebellion



Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (The Marseillaise)

• 1833-36, Francois Rude• Commissioned to decorate the main

arcade of the triumphal arch on the Champs-Elysees to commemorate the volunteer army that had halted a Prussian invasion

• Beneath the violent exhortations of the winged figure of Liberty, the volunteers surged forward, some nude, some in classical armor

• Some neoclassical elements, but main effect = Romantic

• Stirred patriotism of French spectators and became known as The Marseillaise



Grand Opera House • 1861-1874, Paris• Designed by Charles Garnier• Used iron as only an internal support• A focal point of a controversial urban

redevelopment plan begun under Napoleon III by Georges-Eugene Haussman

• Garnier’s design selected in a competition

• Massive façade, featuring a row of paired columns above an arcade

• Heavily ornamented• Baroque version of the 17th century

wing of the Louvre, an association meant to suggest the continuity of French greatness and to compare Napoleon III with Louis XIV

• Building’s form intended to celebrate the devotion to wealth and pleasure of that period

• Inside had neoclassical Baroque sculptures







The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, No. 43 from Los Caprichos

• C. 1798, Francisco Goya• He chiefly created formal portraits and

Rococo genre pictures• Influenced by Velazques and

Rembrandt to develop a more Romantic style

• Shows a slumbering personification of Reason, behind whom lurk dark creatures of the night

• Part of Los Caprichos, a folio of 80 etchings

• Created after the reinstitution of the Inquisition in Spain

• The collection of 80 show the follies of Spanish life that Goya and his friends considered huge

• He hoped they would reawaken reason



The Family of Charles IV• 1800, Goya• Acknowledges the influence of

Velazquez’s Las Meninas by placing the painter behind the easel on the left

• Realistic rather than idealistic• Some view it as a cruel expose of the

sitters as common and inept• He was the principal court painter• The candid representation was

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The Third of Mary 1808• 1814, Goya• Focuses on victims and antiheroes, the

most prominent of which is the Christ-like figure in white

• An indictment of the faceless and mechanical forces of war itself, blindly destroying defenseless humanity

• Occurred when France under Napoleon conquered Spain and planned to kill the royal family

• The Spanish populace rose up and a day of bloody street fighting ensued



ap art history term 3 test 1

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