Napoleon Crossing the Alps is a famous painting finished in 1801 by French artist Jacques-Louis David. The painting was commissioned by the king of Spain and was a token to show the new and improved relationship between Spain and France. Jacques-Louis David and Napoleon Crossing the Alps were tied to the Neoclassical art movement, which I’ll cover in this article.
The Story of Napoleon Crossing the Alps
Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David (1801)
Napoleon rose through the ranks of the military during the French revolution. By the year 1799, he became First Consul in France. Then, five short years after that he would become the first Emperor of France.
In this painting, we see Napoleon (as First Consul) leading The Reserve Army across this dangerous mountain pass called Saint Bernard. They were on a military campaign to regain Italy in the year 1800. It’s debated whether Napoleon actually led the army through this mountain pass, or came through later. Nevertheless, of course Jacques-Louis David depicted Napoleon as the triumphant leader.
The Idealization of Napoleon
The artist depicts Napoleon as a glorious victor with arm outstretched and hand in the shape of a blessing sign. He is seated upon a wild, yet majestic horse. This pose mirrors a typical Roman equestrian statue, which is really important to Napoleon because he likes to connect himself with the great leaders of The Holy Roman Empire. In addition, Napoleon looks like the calm within the storm. He’s surrounded by seemingly unnavigable territory – huge cliffs, wild terrain, and harsh weather. But he looks powerful with his windswept hair and his intense gaze.
Overall, Napoleon Crossing the Alps is a very idealized painting. In other words, Napoleon is meant to look perfect. This is fitting because it’s been said that Napoleon had a big ego. This guy didn’t want anybody to seem more powerful than him. In fact, at his coronation he took the crown out of the pope’s hand and crowned himself. Napoleon wanted to make clear who had more power. At the bottom of this painting you can see some names etched into stone. These are the names of powerful men Napoleon is following – Hannibal, Charlemagne, and look who’s at the very top – Bonaparte Napoleon himself.
Napoleon Crossing the Alps and Neoclassicism
Napoleon Crossing the Alps is a great example of the Neoclassical art style. This art style pulls from the roots of Greek and Roman art. Napoleon really wanted to align himself with this style because he wanted to connect himself with the great leaders of the Roman empire and their values and ideas. This is why he often commissioned Jacques-Louis David to do his paintings.
Jacques-Louis David was a leader in the Neoclassical art movement. In fact, some people call him the father of the movement. During the French revolution he was working for the revolutionists and headed the propaganda department. As the lead artist, his job was to sway people politically through his images, and he was really good at his job. This is when Neoclassicism was born, which was a stark contrast to the Rococo art movement that came before.
Neoclassical Art characteristics
This painting shows a lot of typical Neoclassical art characteristics. Remember, Neoclassicism is a shift back to Greek and Roman art. So, you’re going to see a lot of similarities.
The first characteristic of Neoclassical art to notice is the tight brush strokes. These are clean and crisp. Second, the colors used are earthy and natural. Third, the dynamic posing draws your eye right to the center of the piece, which is Napoleon and very Neoclassical and Romanesque. There are also strong diagonal lines, which gives motion, action, and tension to the piece. Napoleon is dressed in military regalia with soldiers surrounding him. These strong civic vibes, pride of country and of protecting people, and a calling to arms by a strong leader who can fight for your country is all Neoclassical.
Napoleon and Propaganda
In the end, this painting and many of Jacques-Louis David’s paintings were straight up propaganda. Napoleon was depicted exactly as he wanted. He is portrayed as the perfect leader for a fallen country. A man perfect to be titled the next emperor of France, Europe, and the world.
Yaxchilan is a Mayan civilization located on the southern banks of the Usumicenta River in Chiapas Mexico. This place is so remote, you still need to take a boat to get to it. The center building of Yaxchilan is called Structure 23 and is famous for two stone carvings called lintel 24 and lintel 25. These two carvings contain two figures, Shield Jaguar and Lady Xook that you’ll learn about in this article.
In Structure 23 on the left entryway above the door frame on the lintel, looking up at the ceiling, is a beautiful carving titled lintel 24. Depicted here is Shield Jaguar and his wife Lady Xook participating in a very sacred ceremony known as bloodletting. Bloodletting was a really sacred ritual to the Mayans that allowed them to communicate with the gods and their spirits.
Depicted in this scene you can see a long rope with sharp barbs or thorns off to the side. Lady Xook drags the rope through a hole in her tongue. Little droplets of blood flow from her mouth and create rivulets on her cheeks. Finally, the blood is caught in a bowl located near her knees. (Side note, men used to do this on their genitals – ouch!)
Shield Jaguar and Lady Xook
Watching over Lady Xook is her husband Shield Jaguar holding a lit torch. This may suggest that this ceremony was done either at night, in a dark windowless room, or some other sacred space.
If you zoom in on Lady Xook’s costume, you can see the individual threads woven together to create this piece of cloth. You can see that so much care was put into this piece to honor this incredible woman.
She’s also shown in an idolized state, which means she’s perfect, she is the ideal beauty, the height of perfection to Mayans at the time. The height of beauty was to have a long sloping forehead that connected to your nose in this nice vertical line, sloping foreheads, large noses, almond shaped eyes, and being adorned with jewelry made of gold and jade. This is Lady Xook in all of her perfected glory.
Her husband is similarly attired and depicted. You can see that idealized beauty in his face and his structure, but you can also see how much he’s adorned in gold and jade jewelry as well. Look at his headdress – it’s immaculate, it shows power both military and political. And if you zoom in a little closer on that headdress you can see an actual head. Yup, that’s a shrunken head. Definitely there to invoke fear in enemies, but also to promote power of the Mayan ruler. (Side note, to make a shrunken head you remove the skull from the neck and then you just let the skin dehydrate for a couple of days.)
The glyphs and Mayan calendar
Off to the left and upper side of the panel you can see some glyphs. Now these glyphs weren’t translated until the 1960s, which is incredible because Yaxchilan was discovered in the 1800s, so we waited a long time to figure out what was actually being said here. But we found out that they’re very descriptive.
These picture-like squares tell us a couple of things. Mostly they tell us dates, and they tell us names of people involved in the scene, which is how we know this is Shield Jaguar and his consort wife Lady Xook, and it’s also how we know that the date of this panel was October 24th 709 CE.
The Mayans are known for their really complex calendar system. If you were around in the year 2012, you can remember that we thought the world was going to end because this calendar system ended. This really complex calendar system gives us some really specific dates. Which helps us understand when important events happened. The next lintel is a great example of this.
Lintel 25 of Yaxchilan is located in the central entrance to that same building where lintel 24 is found, structure 23. But here we have a little bit different scene being depicted. We still have our two main characters Lady Xook and Shield Jaguar. The date off to the side on this one though is in the year 681 in the month of October, which is the date and year that Shield Jaguar ascended to the throne so this is an important event that’s being depicted here.
You still see our famous Lady Xook kneeling in the same position, but this time in her hands she holds that bowl with those maybe pieces of paper or an open codex or book. You can see actual droplets of her blood on there signifying this is after the bloodletting scene.
Next, look at her face. As you look at her face you kind of get this sense that she’s in this trance-like moment. She’s hallucinating. Now after the bloodletting ritual, there would have been a lot of blood loss, and there would have been a lot of incense burning, so hallucinations were not uncommon during bloodletting scenes. Her eyes roll back to her head as her head tilts upward toward this image.
Who is coming out of the serpent in lintel 25?
Now what she’s looking at here is a man emerging from the mouth of a serpent. You can see his body as it kind of curves down the side of the lintel, but there’s this person coming out. We’re not quite sure who this person is, but through the adornment and that incredible headdress we can almost exactly assume that this is someone of high importance.
There’s three hypotheses as to who this person could be the. The first hypothesis is that it could be a spirit or a god of the Mayan culture, that makes sense. The second person it could be is Shield Jaguar coming out of the mouth of the snake, which makes sense because you know this is his party. The third hypothesis is that it’s Lady Xook herself, and she’s kind of having this double out of body experience.
I love the idea that this could be Lady Xook in some sort of mirror trance. This would show her power, royalty, and spiritual side. I love that idea. But the hypothesis that I think makes the most sense to me at least is that of Shield Jaguar. Like I said, this is his party. This is his year, and there’s a lot of connection throughout the globe of ruling kings and their connections to becoming gods. It just makes more sense.
The Human Connection
Lintel 24 and 25 of Yaxchilan would have been brightly painted in their full glory. You can see remnants of blue and red paint that really would have popped with the design. I love these pieces because of the stories they tell. You can see that the Mayans really tried to show their connections to each other, their king, and spiritual realm. This connection is what drives a lot of art throughout history and across the globe. And they are the same connections we are trying to make sense of today.
Rococo artwork is known for its flamboyant depiction of wealth and the aristocracy in the 18th century. This article covers the top five Rococo artworks that I think are important to the movement. You can also watch my video of these 5 artworks on YouTube.
Pilgrimage to Cythera (#1)
Pilgrimage to Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau was completed in 1717. This artwork was the catalyst to the Rococo movement. Approved by the French academy of painting and sculpture, this piece introduced wealth, flamboyance, and a new art style into painting. Characteristics of this new art style (Rococo) included loose brush strokes, pastel colors, and flamboyant escapades of the wealthy class – which is what the Rococo art movement would become known for. They even had to create a new genre in the academy called the fete gelante in order to fit this into their hierarchy of art.
Madame de Pompadour (#2)
Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher (1756)
Francois Boucher completed Madame de Pompadour in 1756. Boucher took over the Rococo art movement after Watteau. In fact, he was one of the most well-known artists of the 18th century. A lot of this had to do with his main patroness, the Marquis de Pompadour, aka the Madame de Pompadour, aka King Henry the 15th’s famous mistress.
The Madame de Pompadour loved Boucher’s work so much that she had him paint almost every single one of her portraits. These artworks all hold a typical Rococo style in portraiture – loose brushstrokes, pastel colors, whimsical looks on their young idealized faces, and lots of symbols of wealth and power. Because of her wealth, power, and connections (you know, being connected to the king and all), she actually helped propel the Rococo art movement forward.
Self-Portrait, Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (#3)
Self-Portrait, Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (1790)
Number three of my top five Rococo artworks is Vigee Le Brun’s self-portrait. Vigee Le Brun shifts between Rococo and Neoclassical. The style she does is Rococo, but her subject matter is more Neoclassical. I think she is an important Rococo artist because first of all, she was the lead portrait artist of Marie Antoinette who lived in Versailles and was an important figure in Versailles history. Second, her husband Victor Le Brun was the interior decorator of Versailles, which was very Rococo/Baroque. Victor also started the French academy of painting and sculpture. So, she’s just kind of a big name.
Not only was she connected to important Rococo persons, but she is a very talented painter. Vigée-LeBrun is fantastic with the Rococo styles of loose brush strokes (just look at her hair in the above picture!), pastel colors, and whimsical youthful faces. She also shows us what Rococo artists thought of themselves. She paints herself in the manner of painting, a serious artist. In addition, you can tell by the way she is dressed that she belongs to this wealthy class that she’s so associated with. It’s her way of bringing artists to the level of those people who are doing fete gelante.
Marriage A-la-Mode (#4)
Marriage A-la-Mode by William Hogarth (1743)
The Marriage A-la-Mode, by William Hogarth was completed in 1743. This Rococo artwork is a series of six paintings that makes fun of Rococo. It’s not necessarily done in the Rococo style, but in order to better understand the Rococo movement, you have to check this piece out.
In this piece, Hogarth satirizes the upper class – those people who can spend all of their money conversing in salons and going on fete gelantes. The six paintings show the story of an arranged marriage full of wealth and class that does not end well. It dramatizes the downfall of living a life like the aristocracy was doing during Rococo. What happens when you age and you no longer look beautiful and you no longer can go on these escapades? Or even worse, what happens if you lose all your money?
The Swing (#5)
The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1767)
Finally, I can’t not pickThe Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Fragonard was able to build on the foundation that Watteau and Boucher had created for him to create a masterpiece. And in my opinion, this is the quintessential Rococo art piece. It has the perfect representation of all of those Rococo art characteristics – it’s frilly, it’s frivolous, it’s frothy, it’s full of wonder and secrecy. There’s lots of dynamic movement that connects it to the Baroque art period. You’ll find loose brush strokes, pastel colors, and this feeling of romance and love. The Swing is just perfectly Rococo.
Understanding these top 5 Rococo artworks helps you connect with the history, artists, and people surrounding the Rococo art movement.
The Palace of Versaille history is full of wealth, luxuriousness, and power. The palace itself is one of the most magnificent buildings in all of art history.
Who Built the Palace of Versailles?
King Louis XIV’s showed his power and wealth through the Palace of Versailles
To understand the opulence of the Palace of Versailles, you need to understand the main guy who built it – King Louis XIV. King Louis and the Palace of Versailles history go hand-in-hand.
Now this guy was obsessed with himself. He made people call him the Sun King because he thought the Earth revolved around him. The day began and ended with Louis. He’s even been known to say “l’etat, c’est moi”, which means “the state, it is myself”, which basically means “I am France” – everything French is a reflection of me.
Now having this big of a head, needed to be matched with his surroundings. The palace at the Louvre was not big enough for him.
How big is the Palace of Versailles
This “little” chateau began as a hunting lodge, a vacation home of sorts, before it was transformed into what we know today.
It’s estimated to have cost somewhere between two billion and three hundred billion dollars (in today’s money). This is a huge range, but records don’t actually tell us. Nonetheless, billions of dollars!
This place was large enough to house 5,000 Aristocrats and over 14,000 servants. There are 700 rooms, 2,153 windows, and 67 staircases. The building covers 721,182 square feet of floor space – that’s over 12 football fields!
Palace of Versailles Façade
Palace of Versailles exterior
The façade, or exterior, is quite simple compared to the inside. But like St. Peter’s, this palace draws you in, arms open wide. It is done in a pretty classical, yet more austere manner.
The palace is horizontally composed and balanced, symmetrical, and repetitive.
Palace of Versailles Interior
Louis’ entire life was a spectacle, and the interior of this Palace was decorated to match it. Built on an east to west axis, there’s a chapel, apartments, and even its own Opera House. All of the finest materials were used; expensive marbles for the walls; glass imported from Venice for the mirrors; and lavish paintings on every surface, including the ceilings.
Most of the art reflected a motif of power – Louis riding triumphantly after victorious battles and busts of him staring at you wherever you go. And of course, there was a lot of gold and silver.
The King’s Bedchamber
Versailles King’s Bedchamber
At the center of this palace is the King’s bedchamber, surprise surprise. The rays of sun hit his bedroom first, awakening the Sun King for a new day. The rest of the world could wake up after the king.
This was such an event that the king required an audience each morning he woke up. There were literally hundreds of honorable people in his room each morning, and depending on your social status, you had certain duties. It was considered a high honor to empty the king’s chamber pot, or to remove his nightshirt, or to buckle his shoes.
The Versailles Apollo Room
This is the Apollo room, or the royal throne room that was built for Louis XIV. The style is very Baroque – drama, intensity, over-the-top lavishness.
Hall of Mirrors
Versailles Hall of Mirrors
The most infamous room in this Palace is the Hall of Mirrors. Hundreds of years after Louis XIV built this, a very important document was signed here – The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the first world war.
This Basilica, light-barrel vaulted hallway overlooks The Gardens from the second floor from 250 feet up.
The Hall of Mirrors is the perfect representation of Baroque architecture. Used as a reception hall, this room is full of dramatic movement and dramatic scale. Every surface is decorated in a way to impress, inspire, and intimidate. There is this harmonious balance of organic, yet geometric shapes, everything is covered in either gold or silver, the ceiling is painted, and there are motifs everywhere of civil and military achievements of King Louis.
The barrel-vaulted hallways tend to feel like tunnels. In order to alleviate that feeling, mirrors were placed on the opposing side of the windows to reflect the gardens, making the room feel wider, larger, and more impressive.
Glass at this time was one of the most expensive materials that were being made, and Venice had a monopoly. King Louis XIV entices a bunch of Venetian mirror makers to create the 357 mirrors that encompass this room.
The Gardens
The Gardens
King Louis envisioned a park for himself. He wanted a place to play and relax and have fun, so a park and more is what he got. His gardens cover over a mile in width, and almost twice that in depth. There are 2,000 acres of cultivated land.
This is an incredible feat in and of itself, but what makes this more crazy, is the park was originally a swamp and many workers died of malaria.
The design of the gardens are done in a traditional French style. There is symmetry and harmony in the scrolls, the perfectly shaped topiaries, and the many fountains filtered throughout.
Manicured laws were a way to display how much land you owned. It’s a way to brag about how much land you can play with without having to cultivate it to make living. This practice actually continues today. just drive around your neighborhood and see how many folks are outside mowing their lawns.
The Water Features
The grounds house 55 fountains, and over 20 miles of water pipe. There are two huge reflection pools that reflect the façade of the palace, having the same effects as the Hall of Mirrors. There were few issues with these water features though.
Versailles was higher in elevation and not close to a water supply, so there was not enough water to supply these fountains. To combat this issue, fountains were turned on when the king walked by and turned off when he left.
Versailles Apollo Fountain
The Apollo fountain
This is an example of one of the fountains in Versailles. The fountain shows Apollo riding his chariot, bringing up the sun for the day.
When this fountain is turned on, the effect is breathtaking as the sun god literally rises from the pool.
Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet
Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet
One of the main attractions of the gardens is the famous Hamlet Village built for Marie Antoinette in 1783. The village is an eclectic cabin-like place where she would play at raising animals and living a more simple life.
There were 12 structures originally, but only 10 remain today, and they stand in a Normandy Village style. The structures include a farmhouse, a dairy, a mill, a boudoir, a pigeon loft, a lighthouse tower, and a cottage with a billiard room for the queen to entertain her guests.
Literally in this palace’s backyard is an actual village – that is out of control.
What Happened to Versailles?
So basically Versaille was a huge power play. It was a way for the king of France to flaunt his money, hold tight to his power, and intimidate anyone who came into his presence.
This makes it a little bit easier to understand when in October 1789, a group of seven thousand women marched up to Versailles and took the king with them back to Paris, beginning the French Revolution.
The royal family never returned to Versailles after the French revolution. The French Court still sometimes uses it for large events, like when Queen Victoria came to visit France, but for the most part it remains as a tourist attraction. In fact, in the year 2017 there were over 7.7 million visitors.
Caravaggio’s art style captivates the viewer and makes you feel like you are a part his art. Arguably one of the greatest artists of all time, he’s truly a master of his craft. The six characteristics below will help you further understand and easily identify his beautiful work.
6 Characteristics of Caravaggio’s Art Style
Average, every day people as models
Religious art that is attainable
Strong diagonals
Light vs dark shadowing
Natural, earthy tones
Emotion!
If, you’d like to see the characteristics of Caravaggio’s art style applied to one of his pieces, watch my analysis of The Entombment of Christ, which starts at about 7:16 of this video:
Average, every day people as models
Caravaggio uses average everyday people as models for his works. This was new and different at the time. During the Renaissance period (the period preceding Baroque art and Caravaggio) Raphael, a famous Renaissance artist, would use multiple models to depict the perfect woman. It was also common to use very beautiful models at that time.
(To see how Baraoque and Caravaggio fit within the Western Art Timeline, you can download my timeline here.)
So, Caravaggio completely turns that idea on its head. He uses models that are pulled from the streets who are dirty, sunburned, not wearing shoes, and have receding hairlines. This gives his art a more natural and realistic feel. The viewer can more easily connect with the people in his artwork.
Religious art that is attainable
The second thing Caravaggio does with his art style is he reduces the lofty religious content of the time to a more basic human drama. He takes grand events in The Bible that happened in Christ’s life, and he brings it down to our level. The worshipped characters of The Bible are depicted more as someone you might recognize. In this way, Caravaggio us relate and be a part of his art.
Strong diagonals
The third thing Caravaggio does is create incredibly strong diagonals. Diagonals were an important aspect of Baroque art as they they add energy and dynamism to the art. They also help guide your eye to focal points of the piece. Caravaggio often plays with light to bring out these diagonals that can be unnoticed but certainly felt by the average viewer. Which brings me to the next Caravaggio characteristic.
Light vs dark lighting
The fourth characteristic of Caravaggio’s art style is his use of light versus dark. He is a master manipulator of light. His lighting helps add drama, intensity, and energy to the piece. Similar to his use of diagonals, and they often go hand-in-hand, his lighting draws your attention to focal points of the piece. A lot of his light sources actually come from a single place, meaning it looks more like stage lighting which directs your eyes the center or focus.
Natural, earthy tones
The fifth thing that Caravaggio does in his artwork is use a lot of natural, earthy colors. These include greens, golds, reds, and browns – really similar to Venetian Renaissance. These colors are more attainable and recognizable. Remember Caravaggio is coming off the Renaissance and Mannerism art in which you have a lot of pastel colors that make the art seem otherworldly. Caravaggio uses earth tones that bring the artwork back to our sphere.
Emotion!
The final characteristic of Caravaggio’s art style is that he adds all the feels! He does so through facial expressions and other aspects of his art. Some of the characteristics already mentioned, such as the light vs dark and diagonals, help to add the emotion he wants us to feel.
These six characteristics should help you recognize a Caravaggio piece out of a pile. To help you understand these further, you can watch my video on The Entombment of Christ where I apply these characteristics. His work is absolutely beautiful and should be appreciated on multiple levels.
Pilgrimage to Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau is one of the most important pieces of art in the 18th century. It took 5 years to complete (1717) and was Watteau’s submission to get into the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. His acceptance into the academy with Pilgrimage to Cythera was a key turning point in art history.
Historical Context
In the 1700s, the French aristocracy was gaining power and clout both politically and socially. They had so much time and money on their hands that they were able to gallivant through gardens, have large parties, and dress pretty outrageously. The aristocracy was gaining more control and power within the art scene of the time. In art history, this art movement is called Rococo and Pilgrimage to Cythera was the catalyst for the movement.
What’s Happening in Pilgrimage to Cythera by Watteau
At first glance you may see a lot of wealthy people gallivanting in a park, and you’re not too far off. What we have here is a group of luxuriously dressed couples and they’ve made a Pilgrimage to Cythera
What is the importance of cythera?
Cythera is the supposed birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, who’s the goddess of love. It’s an island in Greece and known for its beautiful, gorgeous, and fertile landscape. Cythera is a place to fall in love. In fact, off to the right you can see a statue of Aphrodite robed in flowers. The statue is a bust, so the top half is nude. She looks beautiful as she looks down on the group of lovers that have come to pay homage to her.
The lovers in pilgrimage to cythera
Let’s take a look at the couples in the painting, starting from the Aphrodite statue on the right and working our way left across the painting. You’ll notice they are all separate couples. Looking at the first couple on the right, you’ll see a young woman elegantly dressed. Her eyes look down, and she looks demure. The young man with her is kind of whispering in her ear. Maybe a flirtatious conversation. At their feet you’ll notice two things: (1) his weapon or walking stick is laid down as if to show this is harmless and his focus is on her, and (2) a little cupid. The cupid is half clothed and tugging at her dress, seemingly egging her on or goading her to fall into this flirtatious conversation. This couple doesn’t look overtly sensual in any way. Their romance feels harmless and cute.
Then, as your eyes go across the painting you can see this act of romance and falling in love kind of taking shape. With the next couple, the young woman is being helped up by her admirer. It seems she’s fallen into the flirtatious conversation. Moving on, the man in the next couple has his arm wrapped around the woman and is leading her away. Then, as you continue to look at the rest of the couples from right to left, you can see the couples getting more comfortable with each other. They have their arms wrapped around each other and there’s no more pressuring needed. No goading. More sensuality is happening. Remember, this is the island of love.
The boat
The couples who have fallen in love are making their way to a boat in the left-hand corner. The boat is gilded and you can see it’s wrapped in this beautiful red drapery. Next, notice the putti or little cupid baby angels. They’re very cute and playful and their purpose is to inspire romance and love.
the background
When looking at the trees, clouds, and landscape, you’ll notice individual brush strokes (a painterly style). The painterly style gives it a kind of airy feel. It feels feathery and flowy – a perfect scene for these couples to fall in love.
In the background, if you follow the river back to the left, you can see what looks like a little town in the distance. Historians flip-flop on whether the couples are leaving the island of Cythera or going to the island of Cythera. Due to the fact that we’ve got the Aphrodite statue, to me the evidence is convincing that the boat is at Cythera. Also, because the level of intimacy increases from right to left, in my opinion they are heading back to the boat after a luxurious, love-filled trip to the island. But this is all up for debate.
Pilgrimage to Cythera is the Catalyst to the Rococo Art Movement
Pilgrimage to Cythera was a very unique painting at the time. We’re coming from the Baroque period, when the art is heavy and has really sharp lines and contrasts between light and dark. Pilgrimage to Cythera shows a dream-like landscape depicting the aristocracy on a beautiful love-filled escapade to an island where they can fall in love. It’s a very new feel in 1717.
As already mentioned, Watteau uses this famous piece for his entrance into the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. He gets accepted, and this is really important not only him but also to art history in general. The academy had a hierarchy of categories in which paintings could fit into. They couldn’t find a category that fit perfectly for this piece, so they created a new category called fete gelante, which basically means wealthy people doing things in nature.
So, with this piece he not only creates a new category to display art but he also is a big part of starting the Rococo Art Movement, which starts in Paris and moves throughout Europe. The movement is characterized by depicting the aristocracy doing fun, sensual things. Rococo art is also full of pastel blues, yellows, greens, and pinks. For a perfect example, just take a look at my blog “The Swing by Fragonard – The Quintessential Rococo Piece”.
The Swing by Fragonard has become the quintessential art piece of the Rococo Art Movement. By studying this playful, hedonistic piece you basically come to understand Rococo and the art history context of the time. This blog article covers some of the most common questions about The Swing:
Who is the artist?
Why was it painted?
What’s going on in the painting?
How is this painting Rococo?
Who is the artist of The Swing
Jean-Honoré Fragonard painted The Swing in 1767, which became his best-known painting. Fragonard is a well-known French Rococo painter who completed over 550 paintings. He was known for his hedonistic Rococo style.
Why was The Swing painted?
Although we don’t know for sure, the person who commissioned the piece is thought to be Baron Louis-Guillaume Baillet de Saint-Julien. Rumor has it that the baron wanted to be looking up the skirt of the swinging lady, while a bishop was swinging her (scandalous!).
Doyen was the original artist requested for the painting. But due to the sexual nature of the piece, Doyen did not end up taking the work. Fragonard took the commission and would later be thankful, as it propelled his career.
What’s going on in the painting?
The Woman
The focus of the painting is unmistakably the flirtatious woman on the swing. The lighting coming from the upper left hand corner and moving down towards the woman helps direct our attention to her. (Diagonals that help direct focus is a baroque art style, the art movement leading up to Rococo.)
You can see her shoe flying off as she flips up her dress. She doesn’t seem to be too worried about the man looking up her dress (scandalous!). In fact, she almost seems to be inviting his sensual gaze.
The Men
Besides the woman, we have two men in this painting. It looks as if the two men are not aware of each other’s presence. As previously mentioned, the man looking up the woman’s dress is said to be the patron who commissioned the piece. The man in the background (with a coy smirk on his face) is perhaps a bishop or other religious leader who is seeking a more “righteous” love. But little does he know that the woman is giving permission to another man to look up her dress.
The Statues
First, we have a cupid statue on the left side of the painting. You can see he is holding his finger to his lips, as if to say, “shh”. This helps add to the sensuality and nauthiness of the piece.
Just below the woman, you’ll also notice two more cupids attached to an aquatic animal. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty is said to be born of the sea. Therefore, she is often associated with aquatic animals, dolphins being the most common. All the more adding to the theme of love and sensuality throughout the piece.
The Garden
Finally, a couple of important aspects of the garden are important to point out. At first glance you may miss it, but in between the women and religious leader, you’ll notice what looks like a fence in the background. Perhaps this is a private, luxurious garden? A place for mischief to happen? Common to the aristocracy? These may be aspects that the patron or Fragonard himself was considering while painting The Swing.
In addition to the fence, there is some sort of barrier below the two cupids. Notice that the Bishop is outside the barrier, whereas the man looking up the dress is not. Hmm. . .
Lastly, the green lusciousness of the garden is difficult to miss. All the more adding to the feeling of abundant love, sensuality, mischief, and fun happening throughout the piece
How is Fragonard’s The Swing Rococo?
Fragonard’s The Swing has come to be known as the quintessential Rococo art piece. This piece fully embodies the history leading up to and surrounding Rococo and the important art characteristics and themes that come from the movement, including the following:
The power and influence of the aristocracy
Pastel colors with a more painterly style
Lingering Baroque characteristics (the diagonal lighting)
An absence of monarchy and religious themes that were common in previous art periods. (In this case, The Swing goes a step further with an almost rebellious tone towards religion.)
Themes of sexual, mischievous love
These themes and characteristics are more sporadically found throughout Rococo art. But to have them all in one piece, and in prominent fashion, really makes The Swing by Fragonard the best example of what the Rococo Art Movement was all about.
If you enjoy Rococo and The Swing and/or need a good study guide, download a Rococo infographic PDF, which includes a summary of the movement and an analysis of The Swing.
The Rococo Art Movement was all about flamboyance, wealth, fun, and romance. During this time, the rich were attempting to answer the question – how do you live a happy life? And the art shows they had just a little fun in testing out this answer. To get the full picture, let’s dive into all the details of the movement.
What Inspired the Rococo Art Movement
The Rococo Art Movement was inspired by 3 things:
Baroque Art Movement
Aristocracy replacing the monarchy in France
Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture
How Baroque influenced Rococo
Baroque (1600’s) followed the Renaissance (1400-1500’s). The Renaissance is a tough period to follow (how do you follow perfection?!). But Baroque art added in more drama when compared to Renaissance art. This included more diagonals, painterly brush strokes, contrasting light and dark, and more movement in the art.
This Baroque art style paved the way for the Rococo Art Movement. You can start to see the two styles blend together in architecture. As an example, the Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Germany has both Baroque and Rococo aspects. A lot of the architectural characteristics in this building come from Baroque. But then you see pastel colors and more organic features that exemplify Rococo.
In general, the Baroque art style had a big influence on Rococo art. As you study Rococo, you’ll see a lot of Baroque style layered into Rococo characteristics.
Church of Vierzehnheiligen, in Germany. Construction began in 1720.
Aristocracy replacing the monarchy
King Louis XIV was a flamboyant, dominant monarch that fit what the Rococo movement came to be known as – wealthy people having fun. But it wasn’t until his death in 1715 that there was an important shift from the monarchy to the aristocracy. The monarchy actually left Versailles, and the aristocracy gained a lot of political and economic power. During this time, a small percentage of the population owned 90% of the wealth in France. This laid the grounds for the Rococo Art Movement.
With lots a leisure time, people turned their attention to personal affairs and worldly pleasures. A culture of luxury and excess became prevalent in France. And that’s when the shift from Baroque to Rococo can really be seen.
Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in France
The Baroque art style and the rise of aristocracy in France created the perfect soil for the Rococo Art Movement. Finally, if there was a catalyst of the movement that you can point to, the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and key decisions that were made within the academy, might have been that catalyst.
The Royal Academy was a prestigious art school that was difficult to get into. In the late 1600s and into the 1700s, the Academy created exhibitions for artists to display their art work. These exhibitions were a place to exchange and talk about art, literature, politics, and science. They were the birthplace of the art museum. And the perfect place for the aristocracy. Now the church and the monarchy weren’t the only ones controlling art, but the aristocracy was playing a major role in art movements.
In 1717, The Royal Academy accepted Jean-Antoine Watteau’s art piece, Pilgrimage to Cythera. This decision was huge at the time, because they couldn’t fit the piece into their hierarchy of categories. So, they created a brand new category – Fete galante. Fete Galante was a type of outdoor entertainment for rich people. It basically meant rich people doing rich things. (You’re kidding right? No, no I’m not). And so, this decision really ushered in the Rococo Art Movement.
The Rise and Fall Rococo
Birthed in France’s fertile soil of aristocracy and The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, the Rococo Art movement spread throughout Europe. Rococo’s themes of flamboyance, wealth, and fun had less religious themes than previous periods. The art depicted wealthy people doing wealthy things (fete galante), and enjoying plenty of romantic escapades. (For more on that, just study The Swing by Fragonard.)
But Rococo didn’t last very long. Following Rococo was Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment. This was a time for showing moral behavior. During these movements following Rococo, humans were at their most noble behavior, truly concerned about the human condition. So with all their fun, maybe they didn’t find how to live a happy life after all?
