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Neoclassicism and Romanticism

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Neo-Classicism and Romanticism
Though the Neo-Classical and Romantic art periods sit side by side on the Art History timeline, their values and inspirations couldn’t be farther apart. Whereas Neo-Classical art valued the precise forms and order of Classical Roman and Greek art, Romantic artists were inspired more by the unrestrained, dramatic works of the Medieval and Baroque eras. Both art periods (Neo-Classical and Romantic) came about in response to (and a desire to differ from) an earlier period. The Neo-Classicists were rebelling against the vulgarity and excesses of the Rococo period and the Romanticists were displaying their rejection of the order, harmony and rational thought of the Neo-Classicists.
The Neo-Classical art period (like many art periods) evolved from a previous art period -in rebellion from it. This art period, however, is different from most in that it wasn’t invented by the active artists of the time. It was, perhaps, the first art movement started by writers and theoreticians (Lucie, 1992). German scholar and leading propagandist for the Neo-Classical movement, Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768) deplored the Rococo style, which was all the rage in Dresden, where he worked. In his pamphlet, Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture, he said that the modern artists could only become great again by imitating Greek art (Stokstad, 2005). Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1692-1779), who possessed a large collection of ancient art (sculpture, cameos, vases, etc.), hired Winckelmann to become his secretary and librarian. In doing so, he solidified his position as the top expert on Classical art. Artist (and friend of Winckelmann) Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1770) was commissioned by Cardinal Albani to paint the ceiling of the villa where the massive art collection was house and displayed. This painting, The

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