Read all the articles and give some comments. As a reader what do you think about these articles. Remember using art history words in each articles.

The first one:

Neoclassical and Romantic styles were used around the same time but definitely were distinctly separate. Both styles of works make powerful statements, yet delivered them in different ways with the use of formal elements. The two styles, Neoclassical and Romantic not only are just a “style” but also an attitude. Romantic celebrates the individual or subjective, while Neoclassical celebrates the universal and rational. Some other difference among the two is that Neoclassical is tended to be more of a public art form. Unlike Romantic art, which is intended more for private use. Usually Romantic art is described as fantastic, novelistic, or even enticing. Neoclassical Art was mostly presenting new discoveries, new explorations, and understanding. It emphasized the qualities of outline and linear design over those of color, atmosphere, and effects of light. Neoclassical style favored simplicity rather than dramatics, such as the Romantic style. It is hard to say which style is stronger with getting the point across, but I would lean more towards the Romantic style. The reason for that is because, as learned previously, the gothic touch makes the scene more dramatic and pulls emotion. Lets use Watson and the Shark by Singleton, as an example. The use of lights and darks within the piece, draw more focus on the subject. The lightest subject is the woman in the ocean who is surrounded by sharks. This pulls the attention first onto her because it stands out, already giving us some context for first impression. Then we also see people gathered on a boat, also created with a lot of light, leading to the next piece of the art which is them trying to save the woman. The use of darks around them and also in the ocean create a tone and set the mood for the work. The entire scene as a whole displays history and politics but is done in a manner where it speaks louder volumes due to the heavy contrasts in light/dark and also the colors used. Neoclassical work is more muted and focuses on idealism rather than conveying the emotional aspect to the work, which I personally comes from the “dramatics”. Romantic Art is all dramatics and emotion, making it easier to relay the message or statement.

The second one:

I believe that Neoclassicism helps artist make their statement clearly. Neoclassism is focused purely on order, objectivity, and restraint whereas Romanticism focuses on intuition, emotion, and imagination. Although Romanticism does have a few moments of have bold statement piece, I believe that when artist have a point to prove to stick to Neoclassism because it gets to the point calm and precisely with room for minimal error. The painting I have chosen is by Francisco Goya “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.” Goya was up-in-arms when Charles the fourth prohibited the entry for French books into Spain and he used art as an emotional outlet to his peers. Deciding to create The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters helped Goya express his distaste with Charles lV decision, within doing so he strived to accomplish his goal of inciting action to alert the Spanish people to the errors of their foolish ways and reawaken them to reason. His portrait displays sleeping personification of Reason being haunted by a menagerie of evil appearing owls, bats, and a cat which have been let loose due to Reason being asleep. This artwork represents the separation of imagination and reason, symbolizing foolishness and ignorance. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters can be represented as both Neoclassism and Romanticism depending on the audience.

The third one:

Many artists look outside their own experience for inspiration, for example the Classical past where the paintings consist of contemporary subjects. Maybe even the Medieval period, where works were preoccupied with violence or tragedy. No matter what period or time frame these artists look back on, many incorporate elements from that period in order to convey their message through their works. An image I would like to discuss that I think displays this concept of using elements from another period, would be the Romantic Style painting, The Nightmare by John Henry Fuseli. Neoclassical Art was very prominent at the time but John came up with his own style of art due to his encounter with sometimes tortured and expressive aspects of both Roman culture and Michelangelo paintings. Therefor most of his works came out as a strong, powerful, expressive style. Fuseli actually was known as a history painter so pretty much all of his works require him to look back at another period of time with different art styles. Fuseli was working at the time of Enlightenment but his works depict darker, irrational forces. Although like mentioned before, many of his works involve history, this one in particular has yielded many interpretations, and is seen as prefiguring late nineteenth-century psychoanalytic theories regarding dreams and the unconscious. Based on what is going on in the piece, elements from the Medieval period are being presented. In Fuseli’s composition, a woman bathed in white light stretches across a bed, her arms, neck, and head hanging off the end of the mattress. An apelike figure crouches on her chest while a horse with glowing eyes and flared nostrils emerges from the shadowy background. The use of shadows and highlights add dramatic effect along with the pose of the woman. The way she is stretched across the mattress is over exaggerated. The most prominent elements that display Medieval would be the fact that there is no moralizing subject within the work. It presents a mare, an evil spirit that tortures humans while they sleep. The scene holds a dark theme, unlike many of the uplifting enlightening themes during his time, Fuseli’s shows the futility of light to penetrate or explain the darker realms of the unconscious.

The fourth one:

In the 18th and 19th centuries Neoclassicism and Romanticism, both styles worked well to help artists express themselves. The Romantic style emphasizes subjective feelings, unrestrained colors, large blocks of color, which can be undetailed, and the individuality and freedom of people. Unlike Romanticism, Neoclassicism has a strict subtlety and no particular individuality. Both of these two styles have many excellent works. Among them, Eugène Delacroix’s LIBERTY LEADING THE PEOPLE is one of the most representative works, which depicts the scene of Liberty leading the French people to rebel against the French monarchy. At that time Louis’s younger brother and successor, Charles X, reinstated press censorship, returned education to the control of the Catholic This series of actions aroused the discontent of the French people and led to uprisings in the streets of Paris. In the painting we can see people dressed in different clothes, from workers in overalls to people in dresses, all wearing different clothes. This shows that the people who participated in this uprising came from all walks of life. LIBERTY LEADING THE PEOPLE uses a triangular composition with a naked woman in the middle of the picture, holding a French flag. This woman is the goddess of freedom. This goddess is standing in the forefront leading the people to revolt. The overall color of the painting is dark, and the only bright color is the French flag in the woman’s hand. Red, white and blue are also the main colors of this painting. These three colors appear in various parts of the picture. This color combination reflects the patriotism of the author. And the most special feature of this painting is the goddess holding the flag. In other works depicting goddesses, the goddesses are elegant and sacred. In Eugène Delacroix’s LIBERTY LEADING THE PEOPLE, the goddess holds the tricolor flag and leads the people into the wind, showing the strong and brave side of women. This is also the spiritual embodiment of the people of course. At the bottom of the painting, Eugène Delacroix depicts the sacrifice and death of the revolution, reflecting the brutality of war. One of the bodies is without pants and missing a sock, which shows that most of the people who participated in the uprising were poor. The bodies are so close to the viewer that it is as if they are right in front of the viewer’s eyes. This makes the audience feel the cruelty of war. Overall, Eugène Delacroix’s LIBERTY LEADING THE PEOPLE is a representative of Romanticism. This painting reflects the bravery of people fighting for freedom at that time, but also the cruelty of war.

The fifth one:

the turning away from naturalism continues in sculptures like the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus. I believe this Sarcophagus puts to light that Jesus is the new ruler of the heavens and earth with his foot on the head of Coelus, the pagan god of the heavens. Even the author’s wording shows that Rome has taken on Christianity as the new religion because of the use of pagan to refer to Coelus as a god since earlier in the chapters, the word pagan was never used. The Good Shepard painting and the sculpture are very similar in the design and placement of the stories. In the Good Shepard painting, Jesus is in the middle of the painting protecting His sheep and surrounding Him is a story from the Old Testament about Jonah and the foreseen story of the Passion of Christ when He is crucified and three days later, He has Risen. In the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, Jesus again is in the middle of the sculpture, top, and bottom. Surrounding Jesus is more stories from the Old Testament leading to the trail in front of Pilot and back in the middle, which shows Jesus as a humble King. 

The last one:

The Good Shepherd painting in the catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcellinus shows Early Christian artists abandoning the illusionistic practices of Pompeiian wall painting. Does this turning away from naturalism continue in sculptures like the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus? In a way the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus does give up naturalism but also keeps ideas of it around that are similar to the works of Pompeiian wall paintings. Though it would be pointed out that unlike both the good shepherd as a wall painting and the Pompeiian wall paintings that the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus relies on different points of naturalism as a sculpture. The pieces from Pompeiian walls were made in a systematic way that supported the many layers it took to achieve the illusion of 3D backgrounds on flat areas unlike the good shepherd which pays little attention to the use of illusion. While the Junius Bassus sculpts its backgrounds in a detailed manner that takes advantage of it being a 3D medium it doesn’t really take the illusionistic trait, but it does take advantage of the naturalism in art.