Background and Characteristics
Neoclassicism is the term for movements in the arts that draw inspiration from the classical art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. The height of Neoclassicism coincided with the eighteenth-century Enlightenment era and continued into the early nineteenth century. With the advent of the Grand Tour—-a much enjoyed trip around Europe intended to introduce young men to the extended culture and people of their world—-it became fashionable to collect antiquities as souvenirs. This tradition laid the foundations of many great collections and ensured the spread of the Neoclassical revival throughout Europe and America. The French Neoclassical style would greatly contribute to the monumentalism of the French Revolution, with the emphasis of both lying in virtue and patriotism.
Neoclassical painting is characterized by the use of straight lines, a smooth paint surface hiding brush work, the depiction of light, a minimal use of color, and the clear, crisp definition of forms. Its subject matter usually relates to either Greco-Roman history or other cultural attributes, such as allegory and virtue. The softness of paint application and light-hearted and "frivolous" subject matter that characterize Rococo painting is recognized as the opposite of the Neoclassical style. The works of Jacques-Louis David are widely considered to be the epitome of Neoclassical painting. Many painters combined aspects of Romanticism with a vaguely Neoclassical style before David's success, but these works did not strike any chords with audiences. Typically, the subject matter of Neoclassical painting consisted of the depiction of events from history, mythological scenes, and the architecture and ruins of ancient Rome.
The School of David
Neoclassical painting gained new momentum with the great success of David's Oath of the Horatii at the Paris Salon of 1785. The painting had been commissioned by the royal government and was created in a style that was the perfect combination of idealized structure and dramatic effect. The painting created an uproar, and David was proclaimed to have perfectly defined the Neoclassical taste in his painting style, He thereby became the quintessential painter of the movement. In The Oath of the Horatii, the perspective is perpendicular to the picture plane. It is defined by a dark arcade behind several classical heroic figures. There is an element of theatre, or staging, that evokes the grandeur of opera. David soon became the leading French painter and enjoyed a great deal of government patronage. Over the course of his long career, he attracted over 300 students to his studio.
Jacques-Louis David. The Oath of the Horatii (1784)
Oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a Neoclassical painter of history and portraiture, was one of David's students. Deeply devoted to classical techniques, Ingres is known to have believed himself to be a conservator of the style of the ancient masters, although he later painted subjects in the Romantic style. Examples of his Neoclassical work include the paintings Virgil Reading to Augustus (1812), and Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864). Both David and Ingres make use of the highly organized imagery, straight lines and clearly defined forms that are typical of Neoclassical painting during the eighteenth century.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Virgil Reading to Augustus (1812)
Oil on canvas. The Walters Art Museum.
While tradition and the rules governing the Académie Française barred women from studying from the nude model (a necessity for executing an effective Neoclassical painting), David believed that women were capable of producing successful art of the style and welcomed many as his students. Among the most successful were Marie-Guillemine Benoist, who eventually won commissions from the Bonaparte family, and Angélique Mongez, who won patrons from as far away as Russia.
Marie-Guillemine Benoist. Self-Portrait (1788)
In this untraced oil on canvas, Benoist (then Leroulx de la Ville) paints a section from David's acclaimed Neoclassical painting of Justinian's blinded general Belisarius begging for alms. Her return of the viewer's gaze and classical attire show her confidence as an artist and conformity to artistic trends.
Mongez is best known for being one of the few women to paint monumental subjects that often included the male nude, a feat for which hostile critics often attacked her.
Angélique Mongez. Theseus and Pirithoüs Clearing the Earth of Brigands, Deliver Two Women from the Hands of Their Abductors (1806)
Oil on canvas. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Mongez and Antoine-Jean Gros, another of David's students, tried to carry on the Neoclassical tradition after David's death in 1825 but were unsuccessful in face of the growing growing popularity of Romanticism.