Neoclassicism

Oath of the Horatii (1784) by Jacques-Louis David.

Decade of origin

c. 1760–1830

Location of origin

Rome, Italy

Key motifs

Classical mythology and history, civic virtue, heroism, architectural ruins, togas and Greco-Roman attire, austere settings, idealized figures

Key colours

Somber, serious colors; strong, clear light; avoidance of Rococo pastels

Key values

Order, reason, restraint, solemnity, morality, patriotism, civic duty, clarity, idealism

Related aesthetics

Classicism
Empire Style
Gustavian
Hellenic
Incroyables and Merveilleuses
Rococo
Roman Empire
Romanticism

Related media

Painting
Sculpture
Architecture
Decorative Arts

Iconic figures

Jacques-Louis David
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Antonio Canova
Robert Adam
Johann Joachim Winckelmann

Timeline

Preceded by

Rococo
Baroque

Succeeded by

Romanticism

Neoclassicism was a dominant art movement in European art, architecture, and design that flourished from the mid-18th to the early 19th century. It emerged as a direct reaction against the perceived frivolity and ornamental excess of the preceding Rococo style, embodying the ideals of order, reason, and morality associated with the Age of Enlightenment.

The movement was fueled by a renewed interest in classical antiquity, spurred by the archaeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum and promoted by thinkers like Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who praised Greco-Roman art for its "noble simplicity and calm grandeur." The style is characterized by its emphasis on clarity, restraint, and idealized form.

In painting, artists like Jacques-Louis David created compositions with strong drawing, smooth surfaces, and figures posed like classical statues, often depicting themes of civic virtue, self-sacrifice, and patriotism drawn from Roman history. As the revolutionary fervor of the late 18th century faded, the solemnity of Neoclassicism gave way to the more personal and emotional expression of Romanticism, though its heroic themes can be seen as an early manifestation of Romantic ideals.

Architecture[]

Hôtel de la Marine, Paris, by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, 1761-1770

Neoclassical architecture focused on Ancient Greek and Roman details, plain, white walls and grandeur of scale. Compared to the previous styles, Baroque and Rococo, Neoclassical exteriors tended to be more minimalist, featuring straight and angular lines, but being still ornamented. The style's clean lines and sense of balance and proportion worked well for grand buildings (such as the Panthéon in Paris) and for smaller structures alike (such as the Petit Trianon).

Excavations during the 18th century at Pompeii and Herculaneum, which had both been buried under volcanic ash during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, inspired a return to order and rationality.[179] In the mid-18th century, antiquity was upheld as a standard for architecture as never before. Neoclassicism was a fundamental investigation of the very bases of architectural form and meaning. In the 1750s, an alliance between archaeological exploration and architectural theory started, which will continue in the 19th century. Marc-Antoine Laugier wrote in 1753 that 'Architecture owes all that is perfect to the Greeks'.

The style was adopted by progressive circles in other countries such as Sweden and Russia. Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in North America between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The term is also used in association with furniture design in the United States of the same time period. The style broadly corresponds to the middle-class classicism of Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, Regency style in Britain and to the French Empire style. In Central and Eastern Europe, the style is usually referred to as Classicism (German: Klassizismus, Russian: Классицизм), while the newer Revival styles of the 19th century until today are called neoclassical.

Étienne-Louis Boullée (1728–1799) was a visionary architect of the period. His utopian projects, never built, included a monument to Isaac Newton (1784) in the form of an immense dome, with an oculus allowing the light to enter, giving the impression of a sky full of stars. His project for an enlargement of the Royal Library (1785) was even more dramatic, with a gigantic arch sheltering the collection of books. While none of his projects were ever built, the images were widely published and inspired architects of the period to look outside the traditional forms.

Similarly with the Renaissance and Baroque periods, during the Neoclassical period urban theories of how a good city should be appeared too. Enlightenment writers of the 18th century decried the problems of Paris at that time, the biggest one being the big number of narrow medieval streets crowded with modest houses. Voltaire openly criticized the failure of the French Royal Administration to initiate public works, improve the quality of life in towns, and stimulate the economy. 'It is time for those who rule the most opulent capital in Europe to make it the most comfortable and the most magnificent of cities. There must be public markets, fountains which actually provide water and regular pavements. The narrow and infected streets must be widened, monuments that cannot be seen must be revealed and new ones built for all to see', Voltaire insisted in a polemical essay on 'The Embellishments of Paris' in 1749. In the same year, La Font de Saint-Yenne, criticized how Louis XIV's great east façade of the Louvre, was all but hidden from views by a dense quarter of modest houses. Voltaire also said that in order to transform Paris into a city that could rival ancient Rome, it was necessary to demolish more than it was to built. 'Our towns are still what they were, a mass of houses crowded together haphazardly without system, planning or design', Marc-Antoine Laugier complained in 1753. Writing a decade later, Pierre Patte promoted an urban reform in quest of health, social order, and security, launching at the same time a medical and organic metaphor which compared the operations of urban design to those of the surgeons. With bad air and lack of fresh water its current state was pathological, Patte asserted, calling for fountains to be placed at principal intersections and markets. Squares are recommended promote the circulation of air, and for the same reason houses on the city's bridges should be demolished. He also criticized the location of hospitals next to markets and protested continued burials in overcrowded city churchyards. Bsides cities, new ideas of how a garden should be appeared in 18th century England, making place for the English landscape garden (aka jardin à l'anglaise), characterized by an idealized view of nature, and the use of Greco-Roman or Gothic ruins, bridges, and other picturesque architecture, designed to recreate an idyllic pastoral landscape. It was the opposite of the symmetrical and geometrically planned Baroque garden (aka jardin à la française).