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Looked back to the painter Nicolas Poussin for inspiration

Believed that art should be cerebral, not sensual and that strong drawing was rational, and therefore morally better

No evidence of brushstrokes

On the brink of the French Revolution

Continued connection to the classical tradition

Clarity of form, sober colors, shallow space, strong horizontals and verticals

Almost at the same time as Romanticism

Characteristics of Neoclassical Art:

Planarity

Linearity

Tight brushwork

Even lighting

Sculptural forms

Classical figures, dress, and themes

Serious, moralistic subjects

Austerity

Traditional hero figures

Rational

Influences on Neoclassicism:

Excavation of Herculaneum and Pompeii (1748)

Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s Reflections on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture

The “Grand Tour” (Aristocrats’ “Senior Trip”)

Dissatisfaction with the frivolity of the Rococo period

Enlightenment philosophy about the virtue of the “natural poor” (Rousseau)

Enlightenment philosophy about principles of democracy

Imperial tradition of Roman emperors

New interest in classical writing such as Homer’s Iliad

Life imitating art: Classicism becomes fashionable

This was an age of information: first encyclopedia, Age of Enlightenment, etc.

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Gavin Hamilton. Andromache Bewailing the Death of Hector. 1764

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Gavin Hamilton. Andromache Bewailing the Death of Hector. 1764

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Scene from the Iliad

The original is lost

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Jacques-Louis David. The Oath of the Horatii. 1784

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Jacques-Louis David. The Oath of the Horatii. 1784

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Calling for liberty and a new moral order

Artist simplified the painting to greater reflect the story

Based on the story of the Horatii and the Curiatii, two sets of triplets representing Rome and Alba Longa

Stoic

Committed to Roman victory

Simplicity of the background and the stability of the Doric columns echoes the stoicism of the male figures and echoes the triumphant arches of ancient Rome

The women and children are anguished at the prospect of the loss of the three men

Men: assertive diagonals, willing to embrace death

Women: curvilinear forms, realistic fatalism

The woman on the far right is Camilla, the sister of the Horatii and is betrothed to one of the Curiatii. For her, the outcome can only be tragedy

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Jaques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates. 1784

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Jaques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates. 1784

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Many people are turning away from the light

People are grieving in different ways, element of time

Triangular composition as well as intersecting diagonals

Socrates was executed in 399 BC for behavior that offended the gods. They also accused him of corrupting his students. When Socrates refused to deny his beliefs, he was executed. However, he died willingly, orating on how the soul is immortal while drinking the poison. The painting itself shows Socrates in the middle of his discourse while his young followers mourned his death

Tight brushstrokes

Intersecting diagonals

Looks like a stage

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Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon at the St. Bernard Pass, 1801

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Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon at the St. Bernard Pass, 1801

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A series of five equestrian portraits

An idealized image of Napoleon's crossing of the Alps

Napoleon decided to take his troops through the St. Bernard Pass in an effort to surprise the Austrians and retake the territory seized by them in past years

Napoleon did not sit for this painting because he believed that the painting should be a representation of his character rather than his physical appearance

Political iconography

Napoleon wanted to "return to the pure Greek"

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Jacques-Louis David, The Coronation of Napoleon, 1806

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Jacques-Louis David, The Coronation of Napoleon, 1806

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Twenty by thirty feet

Marks the transition from republic to empire in France

Piers and arches echo the grandeur of ancient Rome

Verticals created by candlesticks signify moral rectitude as well as order and stability

Suggests that putting Napoleon in power was the reason for that stability

At the coronation, the pope was supposed to place the crown on his head, in the painting it is Napoleon who does that

In reality, the pope sat for the ceremony

In an effort to downplay Napoleon's narcissism, David shows the moment Napoleon crowns his wife

Diagonal created by Josephine's pose and he long train

Roman profile and laurel wreath adds authority

Gold fleurs-de-lys (a symbol of French royalty) on the pillow next to Josephine also proclaims her right to rule

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Benjamin West. The Death of General Wolfe. 1770

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Benjamin West. The Death of General Wolfe. 1770

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His pose is similar to Deposition of Christ paintings

Martyr

Native American man is in the same pose as a Roman emperor

Even though West was bornin the United States, he studied in Europe and lived there until the end of his life. He was even a founding member of the Royal Academy of Art in London

At this time, most history paintings were from the Bible or the classical past, this was more contemporary

"Depicts an event from the Seven Years’ War (known as the French and Indian War in North America), the moment when Major-General James Wolfe was mortally wounded on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec."

It was recommended to West to paint the figures in togas to make them seem timeless, he refused and said “the same truth that guides the pen of the historian should govern the pencil [paintbrush] of the artist.”

West took artistic License, this is not very realistic

Dramatic

West wanted to paint a picture of the North American scene

"If Christ was innocent, pure, and died for a worthwhile cause—that is, the salvation of mankind—then Wolfe too was innocent, pure, and died for a worthwhile cause; the advancement of the British position in North America."

Instead of just being a war hero, General Wolfe is transformed into a heroic martyr

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Jean-Baptiste Greuze. The Village Bride, or The Marriage: The Moment When a Father Gives His Son-in-Law a Dowry. 1761

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Jean-Baptiste Greuze. The Village Bride, or The Marriage: The Moment When a Father Gives His Son-in-Law a Dowry. 1761

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Bride's mother and sister are sad to see her go but are happy that she has found love

The French middle-class appreciated this painting for its humble simplicity

This painting was attempting to highlight the "natural state" where emotion was respected and compassion could replace tyranny

Idea of the "natural man" idealized peasant life

Peasants were thought to be closer to the earth, to live more simply, and to have avoided the corrupting forces of elite society

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Jean-Antoine Houdon. Voltaire Seated. 1781 

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Jean-Antoine Houdon. Voltaire Seated. 1781 

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The artist adjusted reality to produce an immortal image

Natural, domestic quality

Energized

Lower back seat and bulkier robe add to greater monumentality

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Danish

"Thorvaldson didn't have the gospel as did Joseph Smith, but he had the spirit"

Part of a series of 13 statues including Jesus and hHis 12 disciples

Inscription in the base reads "Kommer til mig" or "Come unto me"

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Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Presenting Her Children as Her Treasures, ca. 1785

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Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Presenting Her Children as Her Treasures, ca. 1785

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The artist was a great thinker, she travelled, and she dedicated her life to art

She was native to Sweden and followed the tradition of the Grand Tour

Painting could be a commentary on monarchists as opposed to democracy

Meant to be an exemplum virtutis, a model of virtue

The story is of Cornelia, the mother of the future political leaders Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. They sought social reform and were seen as friends to the average roman citizen. They learned these ethics from their mother

A visitor is showing off her jewelry and precious gems and asks Cornelia to share her treasures. Instead of jewels, Cornelia presents her own children

“The most precious treasures of any woman are not material possessions, but the children who are our future

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Marie-Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. Self-Portrait with Daughter. 1789 

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Marie-Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. Self-Portrait with Daughter. 1789 

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The artist was a part of the aristocracy at this point

She is trying to show herself as not part of the aristocracy (to keep her head)

Trying to show herself as a good person

She left Paris shortly after this painting was created and continued working as a portraitist in other countries

Pyramidal composition

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Marie Denise Villers, Portrait of a Young Woman (Marie Joséphine Charlotte du Val d’Ognes),1801

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Marie Denise Villers, Portrait of a Young Woman (Marie Joséphine Charlotte du Val d’Ognes),1801

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This painting was originally attributed to Jacques-Louis David

Classical Greek

Glass is broken

There was a room dedicated to women learning art in the Louvre

Women teaching women

Portrays a woman in an art lesson

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, The Apotheosis of Homer, 1827

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, The Apotheosis of Homer, 1827

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Reworks the School of Athens

Classical ideal

He sought to learn directly from the Renaissance and Greek art periods

Brought together figures that lived in different eras and places

Raphael celebrates Greek intellectuals while Ingres also includes artists

Composition somewhat functions as a family tree

Homer is framed with historical and allegorical figures

Ionic temple represents the classical ideals of rational measure and balance

He is being crowned by Nike, the goddess of victory

The two figures below Homer represent his two epic poems, The Odyssey (the figure in green who is holding an oar) and The Illiad (the seated figure in red with the sword)

Other important figures:

Dante

Phidias (an ancient sculptor)

Raphael

Poussin

Michelangelo

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Bought and modified by Brook Bridge's soon, William

Rebuilt into a two story red brick building with stone quoins, large sash windows, hipped roof, triangular pediment

Changed ownership many times, underwent many changes

From 1764-79, Robert Adams was hired to create the house that stands today

Influenced by ancient Rome

Housed soldiers during WWII

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Georgian architecture

symmetry

Very large

114 columns on the front

Park on property that he wanted to be part of the architecture

Back of the building looks almost like a neighborhood

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   Horace Walpole, Strawberry Hill. 1749–1777

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   Horace Walpole, Strawberry Hill. 1749–1777

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Commissioned by Horace Walpole

Private residence and retreat

Extensive collection of artworks and artifacts

Gothic style details

Stained glass windows

Prefigured the later developments of the nineteenth century gothic revival

Asymmetrical layout

Gloomth (opposite of warmth)

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Referred to as the presidential mansion

Design contest

Neoclassical

Influenced by Irish parliament building, Venice architecture

Took 8 years to build

Built by slaves and immigrants

Burnt down during the war of 1812

National Heritage Site

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US Capitol Building, William Thornton. 1793 

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US Capitol Building, William Thornton. 1793 

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Design selected by George Washington

Used for Presidential Inaugurations

Many different offices

Plans were changed many times

Dome is cast iron painted to look like marble

Neoclassical

Partially burnt down during the War of 1812

Purpose is running the US Government

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Characteristics of Romantic Art:
Fascination with:

Power of nature, the Sublime

Exoticism/Orientalism

Supernatural elements, fantasy, dreams

Violence/horrific themes

Longing for the past

Intense emotion, passion

Nationalism expressed through a return to one’s personal past (revival of folk stories, folk music, native myths and architecture)

Individuality

Less consistent in formal qualities; can have tight or loose brushwork

Focused on their own past in contrast to Neoclassicism which focused on Greek and Rome

Irrational

Anti-hero/no hero figures

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Court portraits vs. personal works

Social criticism

Horrors of War

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Trained in the Neoclassical style

Got into the Academy of Art in Madrid

Heavily influenced by Velazquez

Court painter for the royal family

Goya was very critical of many aspects of Spanish culture such as a powerful clergy, superstition, arranged marriages, and the divine rule of kings

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Francisco Goya, The Family of Charles IV, 1800

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Francisco Goya, The Family of Charles IV, 1800

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More neoclassical in style

Not the most flattering painting

Goya paints himself in the portrait (the man in the back left corner)

Emphasizes the divine right to rule

King has medals and a sash

Loose brush stroke

Compare to Las Meninas, Diego Velazquez

Goya's easel is seen on the left

Possibly painted as a reflection in a mirror

Outlines around a lot of the people

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Francisco Goya, Duendecitos (Hobgoblins), from Los Caprichos. ca. 1799

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Francisco Goya, Duendecitos (Hobgoblins), from Los Caprichos. ca. 1799

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Hobgoblins were creatures that were believed to have joined Satan when he was cast out of Heaven. However, they inhabited the human world rather than being thrust into hell

Etched lines create 3-dimensional elements

Ambiguity

Not clear if he is in favor or against

His most scathing political commentary of the series

Criticizing a greedy and powerful clergy

Hiding the wine

Creature on the left is dipping bread in the wine, cannibalizing the church for his own gain

Hand is huge because it's big enough to take

The creature in the middle symbolizes a priest and is the most subhuman

"The grotesque quality of this scene and the character of the figures imply that a greedy clergy was cannibalizing Spain at a time when the Church was the wealthiest institution in the country"

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Francisco Goya. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, from Los Caprichos.  ca. 1799

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Francisco Goya. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, from Los Caprichos.  ca. 1799

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The dark vision of humanity

The viewer is forced to be an active participant in the image, we are also threatened by the monsters

A significant shift from his earlier work

Many prints in the series are critical of certain pre-enlightenment aspects of Spanish government and culture such as a powerful clergy, arranged marriages, etc.

Goya's manifesto and possibly a self-portrait

The creatures are associated with mystery and evil

Without reason, evil and corruption prevail

Transitional between the end of the Age of Enlightenment and the beginning of Romanticism

Warns that we should not be governed by reason alone—an idea central to Romanticism’s reaction against Enlightenment doctrine.

Aquatint

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Francisco de Goya, And They Are Wild Beasts, from The Disasters of War, 1810-1820

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Francisco de Goya, And They Are Wild Beasts, from The Disasters of War, 1810-1820

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Created the series to protest the French occupation of Spain by Napoleon

Shows the consequences of the conflict

Critiques the contemporary world

The horrors of war

About a story of the women of Madrid who fought in the war, defending their homes and their children

Woman on the left looks like deposition poses

Compare to the massacre of the innocents

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Francisco Goya. The Third of May, 1808. 1814 

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Francisco Goya. The Third of May, 1808. 1814 

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About the initial uprisings in Spain after Napoleon took over

Christ figure

Sometimes called the first modern painting

Compare to The Oath of the Horatii

Innocent victims vs. willing volunteers

Mourning figures and heroic figures

Defending their land vs. an invasion of their land

Extreme contrast between light and dark

The contrast between the machine-like firing squad and the humanity of the victims

There are stigmata in the hands of the martyr

Compare to paintings of Christ on the cross

How is the illusion of space created?

receding diagonal

foreground is brighter and clearer

shifts in scale

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Goya, Saturn Devouring his Son, c. 1819–1823. 

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Goya, Saturn Devouring his Son, c. 1819–1823. 

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A lust for power

Part of his black paintings

By the time he painted this he was deaf due to a serious illness which left him very depressed

He didn't intend for anyone to see this

Emotional

Depicts the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus (or Saturn) and his fear that he would be overthrown by one of his children. He ate every child upon their birth to prevent this prophecy from coming to pass

May have been inspired by Peter Paul Rubens’ painting of the same name

The feeling of hurting someone we love

Reminder that this is an allegory for what was happening in Spain at this time: power and the way that power treats those below them

Possible that Saturn knows how terrible this is but feels that he must do it anyways

Goya's reflection of the world he saw

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Elevation of landscape painting

The Sublime: the combination of terror and elation one experiences in relation to the vastness of nature

The Picturesque by humans but not the same as the sublime: the concept of nature as it is, nature unspoiled

The Pastoral: nature that has been tamed

Nationalism

Longing for the past/nostalgia

Man vs. Nature (and the futility of empire building)

Man vs. Man (slavery)

Hope

Spirituality in Nature

Cycles in Nature and/or Civilization

Painting local landscape (Constable)

Nostalgia

"Three aesthetic concepts established during the Romantic era divided the natural world into categories: the Pastoral, the Picturesque, and the Sublime. The first two represent Nature as a comforting source of physical and spiritual sustenance. The last, as articulated by Edmund Burke in his Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757), refers to the thrill and danger of confronting untamed Nature and its overwhelming forces, such as thunderstorms and deep chasms. Whereas the Pastoral and Picturesque reference mankind’s ability to control the natural world, the Sublime is a humbling reminder that humanity is not all-powerful"

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William Blake. Elohim Creating Adam. 1795

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William Blake. Elohim Creating Adam. 1795

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God is reaching out to Adam, personally putting the soul of Adam into his body

Wings are symbolic of power

Adam is shown growing out of the earth, Elohim holds a piece of that earth with His left hand and Adam with His right

Blake believed that the God of the Old Testament was a false god

Believed the fall of man happened at the creation, not in the Garden of Eden. This was when man was pulled from the spiritual world and made human

Etching and watercolor print

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Dark, irrational forces

First displayed at the annual Royal Academy exhibition where it shocked viewers

"Unlike many of the paintings that were then popular and successful at the Royal Academy exhibitions, Fuseli’s The Nightmare has no moralizing subject."

From Fuseli's imagination

Has many interpretations

Suggestive but not explicit

Her dream takes on a frightening physical form

The horse was an evil spirit that tortures humans while they sleep

Chiaroscuro used to heighten drama

Shortened foreground suggests theatricality

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John Henry Fuseli. Thor Battering the Midgard Serpent. 1790

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John Henry Fuseli. Thor Battering the Midgard Serpent. 1790

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Comes from the story of Thor when he used an ox's head to bait the serpent

Top left shows Odin

Grandeur, drama

Possibly influenced by the political upheavals in France

Fuseli was a supporter of the French Revolution

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Joseph Wright. The Old Man and Death. ca. 1773

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Joseph Wright. The Old Man and Death. ca. 1773

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John Constable. The Haywain (Landscape: Noon), 1821 

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John Constable. The Haywain (Landscape: Noon), 1821 

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Six feet wide, unusual size for landscapes during this time period

Radical

Landscape painting was one of the lowliest subjects

Large scale made it seem more important

Mundane

A place close to where he grew up

What is Constable heroicizing?

During this time, there was fear that machines were taking jobs away

Subtle political undercurrent

Finding beauty in the most lowly place

Personal, emotional

"Painting is another word for feeling"

Even though it's about his personal experience, it is also about this time period. Nature isn't a part of everyone's lives

Lack of finish, see the hand of the artist

A painting he did in London from oil sketches he did of the property

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John Constable, View on the Stour near Dedham, 1822

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John Constable, View on the Stour near Dedham, 1822

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"I should paint my own places best"

Very different than other landscape paintings of the day

Not sublime, an ordinary day

Very different subject matter

Why is this romantic?

Themes of nationalism

Pastoral

Spirituality in nature

Nostalgia

Scale of the painting was more akin to historical painting rather than lowly landscape painting

The details make you feel like you're there

The church makes this feel very timeless

Nostalgia for an England that was disappearing

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JMW Turner. Snow storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps. 1812

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JMW Turner. Snow storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps. 1812

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Dramatic, scary

The sublime

Nature is something to be feared

Depicts Hannibal's army in their attempt to cross the Alps in 218 BC

Avalanche

AN elephant (who might be carrying Hannibal) is dwarfed by the storm and the mountains

Parallels between Hannibal and Napoleon

Turner's response to Jacques-Louis David's portrait of Napoleon Crossing the Alps

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Full title reads Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On)

When Turner painted this, he had read a book titled The History and the Abolition of Slave Trade

Slavery had been abolished in England at this point

First presented at an anti-slavery convention

Depicting the story of the throwing of slaves off a boat in order to receive insurance money (couldn't if they got sick and died)

Happened in the 1700s

Artists like Claude Monet studied Turner and his work

Mixture of the beauty and power of nature with a horrific human act

Divine retribution seen in the coming of the storm

Nature is completely indifferent to the human endeavors

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JMW Turner, Rain, Steam, and Speed—The Great Western Railway, 1844

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JMW Turner, Rain, Steam, and Speed—The Great Western Railway, 1844

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The railway was beginning to crisscross the British landscape

Symbol of industrialization

Nostalgia for what's lost

Atmospheric

The rain creates a unity and eliminates hard form

It's about the act of painting itself as well as about the relationship between man and nature

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Richard Dadd, The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, 1855-64

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Richard Dadd, The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, 1855-64

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Fairy painting was popular in painting at this time

Doesn't come from a recognizable story

Oberon and Titania are pictured (the king and queen of the fairies in A Midsummer's Night Dream)

Extremely detailed

All the characters are very individual

Artist was supposed to be a very successful painter but he suffered from schizophrenia and murdered his father and was institutionalized

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Elevation of landscape painting

The Sublime

Spirituality in Nature

Cycles in Nature/cycles of human life

Hope

Symbolic landscapes and portraiture

Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art): an artwork that incorporates a lot of different things

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Philipp Otto Runge, Portrait of the Hülsenbeck Children, 1806

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Philipp Otto Runge, Portrait of the Hülsenbeck Children, 1806

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Artist is credited with bringing Romanticism to Germany

Primal quality makes them seem close to nature

Influenced by Rousseau

We see the world from their point of view

Baby looks really wild

Reflects his romantic ideas of childhood

Children that look like children

New view that childhood is an important stage and they don't have to be little adults

Shows the Romantic fascination with youth and human origins

"Authentic children in their natural habitat"

Childhood and nature are connected in this piece

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There was supposed to also be poetry and music in the room they would be displayed in

You would be surrounded by the paintings

Gesamtkunstwerk

Colors are symbolic: God the Father (blue), Jesus Christ (red), and the Holy Ghost (yellow)

The little bird represents new birth, hope

Mixing mythology with Christianity

Aroura, who brings in the new day

He died before his vision could come to pass

Early Renaissance symmetry

Looks like an illuminated manuscript

Gothic influence, classical influence

Putti from the Renaissance

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Caspar David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea, c. 1810

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Caspar David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea, c. 1810

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Because the figure is so small, we become the figure

Pared down image

The sky is the most important part of the painting

Ocean looks very cold

Questions of the spiritual

He is below the horizon line (earthly) but he is aware of the spiritual realm (the sky)

The sublime

Confronting the presence of God in our world

The 19th century was about trying to conquer nature, this is reminding them that nature can't be conquered

Meant to be seen with The Abbey in the Oak Wood

The monk is thought to be the figure that is carried in the coffin in that painting

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Caspar David Friedrich. Abbey in an Oak Forest, 1809–10 

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Caspar David Friedrich. Abbey in an Oak Forest, 1809–10 

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Somber

He used landscape to convey the follies of human life

The transience of human existence

Dead of winter

Forlorn

All that's left is the futility of human nature and experience but nature is eternal

The oak trees represent the pre-christian traditions

Witnesses

The moon represents what is permanent

It is the dead of winter, but spring will come

Emphasis on renewal, rebirth, resurrection

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Caspar David Friedrich, Solitary Tree (or Lone Tree), 1822

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Caspar David Friedrich, Solitary Tree (or Lone Tree), 1822

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Not plein air, rather it is a studio work based on sketches he had made

Landscape is meant to convey deeper meaning

Tree seems to struggle as it gets higher off the ground

Lone sentinel

Seems very old

Ephemeral state of the shepherd as opposed to the thousands of years old tree

Church rising above a small town, the hcurch is tiny in comparison to nature, this is something eternal, older than human religion

The tree is the main protagonist of the painting rather than a supporting figure

Shepherd and his flock finding shelter under this tree

Loose cruciform

picturesque

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Caspar David Friedrich, Woman at a Window, 1822 

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Caspar David Friedrich, Woman at a Window, 1822 

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Friedrich's wife, Caroline

View is from his studio window overlooking the Elbe river in Dresden

Rückenfigur: or a figure seen from behind

The woman is a surrogate for the viewer to experience what they are witnessing

Sense of yearning

Moment in time

The spectator is also “in a position of exile from, and longing for, what we can always only partially see.”

She is separated from the landscape

Prayer like posture

Cross shape in window-frame

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Caspar David Friedrich, The Sea of Ice, c. 1824 

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Caspar David Friedrich, The Sea of Ice, c. 1824 

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Depicts a shipwreck in the Arctic

Darkness is not typical for the time

Spiritual

The sublime

Mankind at the mercy of nature

Humanity's place within an indifferent environment

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Caspar David Friedrich, A Walk at Dusk, 1830-35

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Caspar David Friedrich, A Walk at Dusk, 1830-35

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Message of death

Around him, nature is dying

The large oak trees in the background carry the massage of life

The waxing moon symbolizes rebirth and Christ

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Nationalism: American wilderness as its national heritage

The Sublime

The Picturesque

The Pastoral

Longing for the past/nostalgia

Hope

Spirituality in Nature

Cycles in Nature and/or Civilization

Art’s role in the formation of national parks

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John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, 1778

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John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, 1778

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Dramatized story of a shark attack

Terror

Naked and vulnerable

Tale of salvation

Harpooner looks like a modern version of Saint Michael defeating the devil or Saint George fighting the dragon

The shark represents evil, open jaws look like the gaping mouth of hell

Boat seems to be modeled after earlier paintings of the story of the fisherman in the New Testament

The allusions to religion help solidify this piece, although seemingly minor and contemporary, into a fitting piece for history painting

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Washington Allston, Elijah in the Desert, 1818

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Washington Allston, Elijah in the Desert, 1818

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Dark, brooding, melancholic

Emphasis on the supernatural

Artist was captivated by the ruins of ancient Rome

Tree looks like it's lived a long and arduous life

Ravens

Elijah is sent into the wilderness by God and is fed by ravens

More a landscape than a biblical story

A narrative

In the United States, they don't have these massive cathedrals, instead they have nature

Moral, serious story in a wild landscape

Conflict between wanting to create something serious and meaningful and the needs of a practical American culture

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Hudson River School painting

Cole was credited with founding landscape painting

America valued landscape painting more than Europeans

Something big is hidden here

Transformation, time, metamorphosis

America and what it is about to become

The sublime vs. the pastoral

The contrast between the sublimity of nature and the settling of the land

Indicating the belief that settling the land is the will of God

Manifest destiny

The artist has painted himself

Chair is also a cross

Wilderness transformed into a paradise that has been created

The passage of time

The shape on the hill might be the Hebrew word for God, saying that God is looking down at the land, manifest destiny

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Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire series, 1833-36

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Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire series, 1833-36

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Pastoralism was seen as the ideal phase of civilization, believed that an empire would lead to the destruction of mankind

Depicts the growth and fall of a city

A boulder is seen in every painting: meant to symbolize the transience of man with the unchangingness of nature

The Savage State, or The Commencement of Empire:

Valley from the opposite shore of the crag

Clouds and mist suggest an uncertain future

References Native American life

Depicts the ideal state of the natural world, unchanged by humanity

The Arcadian or Pastoral State:

Sky has cleared and it is the morning of a day in spring or summer

Seen from further up the river

Cultivated land and agriculture

Temple has been built

Represents pre-urban Archaic Greece

Humanity at peace with the land

Warship and child sketching a soldier imply that there are emerging imperial ambitions

The Consummation of Empire:

Viewpoint is the opposite shore

Colonnaded marble buildings

Triumphant procession

The height of Ancient Rome

Decadence seen foreshadows the fall of the city

Destruction:

Viewer has stepped back some

The sack and destruction of the city

In the foreground, the statue is headless, still walking toward an uncertain future

Desolation:

Shows the city decades later

The remains of the city are bathed in the fading light of a dying day

Instead of sunrise, such as in the first painting, there is a moonrise

Possible future where humanity destroys itself

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Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life series, 1842 

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Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life series, 1842 

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Depicts the four stages of human life: Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age as a voyager travelling by boat on a river in the American wilderness

Accompanied by a guardian angel

Each landscape depicts a different season

As a youth, the boy takes control of the boat and aims for a shining castle in the sky. In manhood, the adult relies on prayer and religious faith to sustain him through rough waters and a threatening landscape. Finally, the man becomes old and the angel guides him to heaven across the waters of eternity

Childhood:

Cave represents earthly origin

Smooth and narrow river represents being sheltered in childhood

Youth:

Life experience is widened

The young man holds the tiller as the angel watches from the side of the river, allowing him to take control of his life

Building in the background represents the dreams and ambitions of humanity

Manhood:

Trials of adult life

Storm clouds darken the sky, the water is rough

Hope of better times ahead

Angel watches from the heavens

Old Age:

Image of death

Waters have calmed and the river flows toward eternity

Landscape is gone, only a few rocks tie him to an earthly world

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Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851

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Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851

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Depicts one of the turning points of the Revolutionary War

Monumental

Many different types of soldiers: militia, uniformed, Scotsman, farmers, and an African American

All inclusive Colonial cause in the Revolutionary War

Very little historical accuracy

Supposed to glorify Washington, rather than accurately portray a historical event

Lighting is similar to religious paintings

Movement

Artist was actually German, and painted this in Germany

This was painted in a time where there were many revolutions that failed, the artist was sympathetic of revolutionary causes

Suggests that unity is possible, even with how fractured the United States was at this time

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Niagara Falls was considered to be the nation's greatest natural wonder as well as a symbol of its youthfulness, grandeur, and expansionism

Panoramic

He brings the viewer into the space by eliminating the foreground and pushing the plane of the falls nearest to us downward

Taught by Thomas Cole

Improved the European view of American art

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Frederic Edwin Church, Heart of the Andes, 1859

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Frederic Edwin Church, Heart of the Andes, 1859

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Church did many watercolor and sketches to prepare for this painting

Monumental

Church went to Ecuador and Colombia financed by a businessman who wanted to use his paintings to attract investors to his businesses in South America

Evidence of people in the path, hamlet, and church

Picturesque

The sublime

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Fitz Henry Lane, Owl's Head, Penobscot Bay, Maine, 1862

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Fitz Henry Lane, Owl's Head, Penobscot Bay, Maine, 1862

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Quiet, still moment

Luminous

Calm, tranquility

Contemplative

Peaceful

Love of his native landscape

Light is the main protagonist

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Albert Bierstadt, Hetch Hetchy Valley, California, c. 1874-80

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Albert Bierstadt, Hetch Hetchy Valley, California, c. 1874-80

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Within the same valley of Yosemite

The valley is gone now due to the damming of the river

We're watching Americans develop the land and create industry while also watching them destroy the natural world

God's cathedral

The west as an idea emerged after the civil war

The East was an area of conflict and the West was an area of promise and escape

Softness of form in contrast to detail

The figure may be a symbol of the country looking west

The idea of what could be lost was very clear in the public's eye due to this painting

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Thomas Moran, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1872

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Thomas Moran, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1872

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This painting was instrumental in convincing Congress to preserve the painting as a national park

Idealized

Even though it seems to show a place untouched by man, we see four figures in the foreground

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Intimacy, spirituality, color, yearning for the infinite

Characterized by loose, flowing brushstrokes and brilliant colors

“romanticism lies neither in the subjects that an artist chooses nor in his exact copying of truth, but in the way he feels.” - Baudelaire

Orientalism:

a Western European view of the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia

Possibly as a ploy to control the "East" by creating a distinction

Allowed them to misrepresent these places

they depict an “exotic” and therefore racialized, feminized, and often sexualized culture from a distant land

simultaneously claim to be an authentic glimpse of a location and its inhabitants

objectified the otherness of non-Western peoples, cultures, and practices.

Art as propaganda

Art as social criticism

Art that asks questions

Art based on literature

Human struggle and emotion

Exoticism

The sublime power of animals

Painting locally and outside (Corot, Rousseau)

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Antoine-Jean Gros. Napoleon in the Pesthouse at Jaffa, March 11, 1799. 1804

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Antoine-Jean Gros. Napoleon in the Pesthouse at Jaffa, March 11, 1799. 1804

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Gros was taught by David

At that time Jaffa was in Syria, modern day Israel

Propaganda: counteracts bad publicity but also shown as a heroic figure

Napoleon touches the plague bubo against his doctor's advice, whose hand is on his shoulder

References paintings of Christ healing the sick

Spectrum of death and dying to the heroic, unaffected Napoleon

Christian iconography used as a tool to suggest Napoleon's "divinity"

Exotic to French people

French flag in the background, place that is in control of France

Man on lower left looks like Damned Man from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel

Planar, stage-like setting

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Napoleon on Imperial Throne, 1806 

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Napoleon on Imperial Throne, 1806 

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Napoleon not only as an emperor but as a divine ruler

Compare to God the Father, Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece which was in the Musée Napoléon (now the Louvre) at this time

Armrests have imperial eagles and ivory spheres

Scales of justice on the rug

On the back wall over his shoulder is seen the crest of Italy and the Papal States, tying Napoleon, since 1805, as the King of Italy

Gilded laurel wreath is sign of rule

Holds rod topped with the hand of justice, in his other hand he has the scepter of Charlemagne

Jewel encrusted coronation sword

Compare to statue of Zeus, comparing Napoleon to Greek gods

8'6" x 5'4"

Low eye level makes it seem like the viewer is kneeling before him

Objects around him suggest imperialism

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Madame Inès Moitessier. 1856

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Madame Inès Moitessier. 1856

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Wife of a successful banker

Pose comes from Roman murals

Classical in many ways

Tight brushstroke

The exotic objects around her are what makes it Romantic

While everything in the painting is carefully rendered, the people themselves are very idealized

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Princesse de Broglie, 1851-53

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Princesse de Broglie, 1851-53

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No evidence of brushstroke

She looks very alive

Lack of modeling, very soft shading

Her anatomy is shifted to create an ideal of beauty

Longer neck, bigger eyes, etc.

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Théodore Géricault, Charging Chasseur, 1812

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Théodore Géricault, Charging Chasseur, 1812

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Movement and sculpture

Similar to David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps

Diagonal composition

Tension

Horse is turning away from an unseen attacker

Turning figure on rearing horse is based on Rubens' Saint George

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Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa, 1818–19

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Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa, 1818–19

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Massive painting, large paintings were saved for heroic painting

Gruesome subject, had taken place 3 years earlier

Ship ran aground in the open ocean, there weren't enough life boats so the ship's carpenter created a raft from the ship's lumber

Rafts supposed to be towed, when the raft slowed lifeboat down, captain cut the rope, abandoning 150 people at sea

Resorted to murder, starvation, and cannibalism

Bodies based on ancient Greek and Roman sculptures

Anti-heroic painting that is still in the visual language of the Academy

Captain of the ship was appointed by the king: anti-monarchic

Raft is tipped into our space, meant to draw us in

Contrast between despair and hope

People are dying because of incompetence: in contrast to the Neoclassical idea of heroicism in death

Romantic ideas:

Human emotion

Fluid brushwork

Energized composition

Emphasis on diagonals and movement

Romantic artists are looking back to Rubens, instead of ancient Greece and Rome

Power of nature

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Théodore Géricault, Portraits of the Insane, c. 1820

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Théodore Géricault, Portraits of the Insane, c. 1820

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Only five have survived: A Woman Addicted to Gambling, A Child Snatcher, A Woman Suffering from Obsessive Envy, A Kleptomaniac; and A Man Suffering from Delusions of Military Command.

Gericault suffered a mental breakdown after the completion of his masterpiece, these paintings might have been a form of art therapy, as a thanks to the doctor who treated him, or to assist in studies of mental illness

Sitters of the portraits are only defined by their illnesses, rather than their names

Pose typical of formal, honorific portraits

Somber

Clothing gives them a degree of personal dignity

Helps us look on these patients with a more human gaze

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Eugène Delacroix, Scenes from the Massacre at Chios, 1824 

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Eugène Delacroix, Scenes from the Massacre at Chios, 1824 

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Contemporary subject instead of a heroic event (which was normally saved for large canvases)

Depicts the attack by Ottoman forces on the Greek island of Chios where tens of thousands of Greeks were killed and enslaved

Greece seen as the best of Europe while the Ottomans were seen as foreign and dangerous

Indecency and horror

Despair

Unique use of color

He was the first artist to include color his shadows

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Eugène Delacroix. Death of Sardanapalus, 1827 

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Eugène Delacroix. Death of Sardanapalus, 1827 

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Breaks every classical rule

Anti-hero

Story of an Assyrian king who is being vanquished in battle but chooses to burn himself and everything he loves rather than surrender

Space is filled up

The forms look like flames in their curving and colors

Writhing movement in contrast to the stillness of the king

Scene of death and destruction

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Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830

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Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830

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Revolution that ousted the king

This is a moment where the outcome is not sure

Notre Dame in the background is a symbol of the monarchy

Liberty is an allegorical figure

Reference to ancient Greek sculpture: the birth of democracy

Call by liberty to overcome the barricade and fight for the cause

Two men on the left: someone from the lower class with someone from the middle class

Different classes coming together to defeat the monarchy

Figures of the dead and the dying are in our space

Violence in an unidealized way

Loose brushstrokes

Art in the 19th century in France was extremely politicized

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Eugène Delacroix. Women of Algiers. 1834 

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Eugène Delacroix. Women of Algiers. 1834 

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Separation between the women and the viewer

Orientalist

Inspired many impressionists

Wearing very lavish clothing and jewels

Black woman is a slave

Attempted ethnographical depiction

Even though they are in a harem, they are not as objectified as other paintings (such as The Grand Odalisque)

Subtler version of the fantasy woman

Fictional image that of the European orientalist idea

Stereotypical motifs such as the narghile pipe, charcoal burner, and odalisques pose

They look like French women dressed in different clothing

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Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. View of Rome, 1826–27

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Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. View of Rome, 1826–27

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Romantic in its loose brushstrokes

Pastoral

Use of light

Classical (view of Rome)

Interest in specific times of day

How do we know it was painted outside? Shadows, reflection, specific moment in time

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Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Souvenir de Mortefontaine (Oise). 1864 

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Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Souvenir de Mortefontaine (Oise). 1864 

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Tranquil

Idealized while also remaining realistic

Very impressionistic

Focus on light, tight brushstrokes

He was not painting from life, rather this is based off his studies of light on the water

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Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau, Under the Birches, Evening, 1842-43

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Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau, Under the Birches, Evening, 1842-43

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Priest travelling on horseback

Last light of setting sun

An idealized landscape

Fleetingness of time

Landscape is painted in an ordinary way

Picturesque

Not composing something, just sowing nature in its imperfections and its flaws

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Antoine-Louis Barye. Tiger Devouring a Gavial of the Ganges. 1831

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Antoine-Louis Barye. Tiger Devouring a Gavial of the Ganges. 1831

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Gavial: crocodile native to India

Artist studied anatomy in the Paris zoo

Animal vs. animal

Exoticism

Tigers don't attack gavials, this was completely imagined

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François Rude. The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (La Marseillaise). 1833–36

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François Rude. The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (La Marseillaise). 1833–36

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Bas relief on the Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe was inspired by the ancient Romans

This was the sculpture that everyone liked

Commemorates the Battle of Valmy when the French defended the Republic against an attack from Austro-Prussian forces

La Marseillaise is the title of the French national anthem

Captures the energy of the new republic

Bilateral symmetry: there is a vertical and a horizontal axis

Propaganda

Movement

People associated this with the anthem

Artist's father was one of the volunteers

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Realism vs. Naturalism

Realism = Real Life

Naturalism = Style

Sought truth through ordinary, everyday, modern experience; neither idealized nor dramatized

Championed laborers and common people (Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels)

New tin tubes of oil paint

Started having individual art exhibits (independent of art academies)

Intimate

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Gustave Courbet. Burial at Ornans. 1849–50

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Gustave Courbet. Burial at Ornans. 1849–50

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Monumental

Contemporary subject

Christ on the cross in the background

Uncle's funeral

Genre piece submitted as a history piece

"An epic can only be produced by its own artist"

The dog was controversial because it held no meaning. Ordinary day, a dog could have wandered in

Grave makes you feel like you are there

Dignity in the common man

Democracy in painting

Many people evenly spaced on the same plane, all the same

Around the same time as photography is being used: people are cut off at the edges like they would be in a photograph

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Gustave Courbet. The Stone Breakers. 1849

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Gustave Courbet. The Stone Breakers. 1849

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Original was destroyed in WWII

Depicts ordinary people

No hero figure

Ordinary , non-idealized person and what their lifestyle is

Human struggle in the everyday sense

Brushstrokes mirror the roughness of the rocks

They are rough like the rocks

Tattered clothing

Only a small bit of sky visible: economically trapped

The young man will be doing this work everyday until he dies, signified by the older man

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Gustave Courbet, The Meeting (Bonjour Monsieur Courbet), 1854

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Gustave Courbet, The Meeting (Bonjour Monsieur Courbet), 1854

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He's meeting a gentleman and a servant

How the artist saw himself

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Gustave Courbet, The Artist's Studio: A real allegory summing up seven years of my artistic and moral life, 1854-55

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Gustave Courbet, The Artist's Studio: A real allegory summing up seven years of my artistic and moral life, 1854-55

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Little boy represents him

Wishes he can see art through a kid's eyes again and forget the art academy

References one of Michelangelo's paintings: The Judgement

Man on the far right is a poet and is supposed to represent Satan, goes on to inspire the Symbolist movement

People on the left represent the saints, the holy

Napoleon the third is pictured

Left: art figures, hungry, poor, Jews

Right: real people, position of the damned

Art was democratized a bit more

Christ figure

Why realism? Shift towards truth

The woman is not idealized. A muse but also a real woman

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Jean-François Millet, The Gleaners, 1857

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Jean-François Millet, The Gleaners, 1857

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Championing the laborer

Heavily inspired Van Gogh

Social critique

Working class

Criticized by the upper and middle class because they felt that it was a stab at them

Emerging from the revolution, the classes felt threatened by each other

The upper class felt threatened by the large number of lower class

Has been associated with the biblical story of Ruth

Gleaning is going back after the harvest and picking up what's left

Frugality

Doing all you can down to the last detail

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Jean-François Millet, The Angelus, 1857-59

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Jean-François Millet, The Angelus, 1857-59

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In Millet's childhood, his grandparents taught him to always say his prayers in the morning

Church in the background

Stopped to pray

Prayer is about the annunciation

Man and women pray together and then say Hail Mary's

A more subtle religious piece

Regular people

Originally called "A Prayer over Potato Crops"

Speculation about their relationship

Intimate

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Rosa Bonheur. Plowing in the Nivernais: The Dressing of Vines. 1849 

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Rosa Bonheur. Plowing in the Nivernais: The Dressing of Vines. 1849 

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Light filled

Nivernais is both region and the oxen

Her father was an artist and she was encouraged from a young age

One year after the revolution, moving away from the city

Here is the strength of France

Nationalistic idea of French country side, France will survive and thrive

Plowing has gone on long before any of the tumultuous politics of the day

Depth, atmospheric perspective

Warmth of sunlight

The oxen are a reflection of the earth: permanence

Desire to turn back to the basic truths in the face of industrialization

A woman painting at the level of a professional

Nationalistic

Realism focuses on the stories of ordinary people

She was a very accomplished artist

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Strong Contrast

Bold colors

“Pure Color”

A Lot of his figures look at you ( so does renoir so keep that in mind)

Dark darks

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Édouard Manet. The Luncheon on the Grass (Le Dejeuner sur l’Herbe). 1863

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Édouard Manet. The Luncheon on the Grass (Le Dejeuner sur l’Herbe). 1863

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Didn't get accepted into the salon

Napoleon III opened up a new Salon to give rejected artists an opportunity to still show their work

Scandalous

Nude woman with clothed men

She was a recognizable woman

The issue wasn't that there was a nude woman, it was that she wasn't softly modeled, tight brushstroke, turning away, etc. She confronts us with her nudity

They weren't appreciating the beauty of the naked form, instead they were being confronted by a nude woman in the park

Not entirely naturalistic, woman in the back is too big. Manet loved to play with perspective

People felt that it didn't look finished

Outstretched arm is reminiscent of The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo as well as Judgement of Paris by Raphael

He's not doing anything new, there were many paintings in the nude that had clothed men and naked women

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Édouard Manet. A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. 1881–82 

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Édouard Manet. A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. 1881–82 

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A popular bar in Paris

Extravagant

Woman seems trapped

We see what she sees but she's not really apart of it

Man is approaching her, she looks displeased

Not super naturalistic, the mirror is incorrect

A place for middle class entertainment

Should a painting be a mirror of reality?

Unreadable expression is typical of Manet

Where do we, the viewer stand?

We can't fit this woman into a certain category

Sensual

The bar separates us from the woman

People in the background suggest a dynamism and energy that is seen in the "new" Paris

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Influenced by Goya

Dramatic use of light and shadow

Sense of truthfulness

He new all of these people

Unity while also having separation

Pyramidal composition

Primarily three separate colors

Views are in different directions

Everything they are holding points towards the center

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Paris Opera House, Charles Garnier. 1875

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Paris Opera House, Charles Garnier. 1875

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Part of Napoleon III's renovation of Paris

Sewers, wider streets, etc. Baron Haussmann hired to redo the city

Opulent

Second Empire style

Chandeliers, columns, arches, etc

The front of the building is a social space, its own stage

Degas showed us the back stage which was really controversial at the time because everything happened in the front of the opera house

Separate bourgeoisie experience: all the walls in the boxes separate them

A place to see and to be seen

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Edgar Degas. The Orchestra of the Paris Opéra. 1868–69 

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Edgar Degas. The Orchestra of the Paris Opéra. 1868–69 

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The orchestra pit of the Salle Le Peletier, the home of the Paris Opera

Somewhere between a portrait and a genre piece

Viewed as though you are a member of the audience

Cropping is similar to that of a photograph

The viewpoint of someone who is distracted from the ballet

Movement both of the figures and the spectator's eyes as if during a random glance

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Edgar Degas, At the Races in the Countryside, 1869

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Edgar Degas, At the Races in the Countryside, 1869

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A family travelling with a baby

The baby is the center of this family's attention

Playful

Seems uncomposed, a single snapshot

We are used to this because we are used to photography, the cropping and informality was revolutionary for the time

Lacks depth

A wetnurse

Different classes are seen here

Horseracing was a very privileged sport

Modern upper-class leisure

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During this time period, ballet dancers were very famous

Showing them backstage was really controversial

Exaggerated perspective

Asymmetrical composition

Show them in their state of awkwardness

Floor seems very steep

Intimate, informal

Wasn't shown in the official Exhibition

Outrageous at the time

The city of performance and leisure

No self-contained, clear narrative

Breaks all compositional and narrative rules at the time

Asymmetrical

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Thomas Eakins. Max Schmitt in a Single Scull , 1871

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Thomas Eakins. Max Schmitt in a Single Scull , 1871

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Painted his hero: a rowing champion in an everyday scene

Painted himself in a nearby boat

Inspired by American Realism

Diagonal composition

He did many many studies from life

This is different from photography, art isn't dead

Tranquil, still, solemn

Meant to commemorate a rower's victory in a race

Rather than show him in a heroic way, Eakins shows him during a late afternoon practice session

Influenced by Velazquez

"Eakins is domesticating an exotic genre, that of Orientalist river scenes by artists such as Gérôme and Frederick Arthur Bridgman."

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Light is shining on his head, implying that he is smart

Inspired by Baroque Painting The Anatomy Lesson

Surgery

A great surgeon and his medical class at Jefferson Medical College

Eakins attended those classes

He was an innovator in surgical techniques

Portrait of Dr. Gross

He seems very godlike

Halo of hair, bright forehead suggest intelligence

The horrified woman represents us

Contrasts the competence of the doctors

Eakins is seen in the far left as a way to establish his credibility in the painting

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American

Symbolic of America trying to reunify after the Civil War

Youth, innocence: Can we start over? Can we be a youthful nation again?

Homer was drawn to rural simplicity in the wake of the more complicated problems of the post Civil War world

Bare feet symbolize childhood freedom while suspenders symbolize the responsibilities of manhood

The boys range from hanging on to each other, to trying to stay connected, to running in perfect harmony, to falling away

All the possible scenarios for men after the Civil War

Nostalgia

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Secret society formed in 1848 by 3 students at the London Royal Academy: William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Wanted to reform ills of the Industrial Revolution through spirituality and art

Looked to Early Renaissance and Gothic art (art before Raphael) as pure, genuine art. Called them "the primitives"

Wanted to depict “truth” by close observation of nature and details

Work is characterized by rich, pure color on a white ground; also included symbolism

Looked to literature for subject matter, especially Shakespeare, the Bible, and Arthurian legends

Simplicity of line and large flat areas of brilliant color

Mature style had beautiful colors and detail orientation

All the Academy was teaching was Renaissance rules, they wanted to go back to earlier times

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John Everett Millais. Christ in the Carpenter’s Shop, 1849–50

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John Everett Millais. Christ in the Carpenter’s Shop, 1849–50

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Wanted to strip away the traditions of painting since the Renaissance

Christ as a child, has hurt Himself

Foreshadows the crucifixion

Not idealized environment, rather shows Him in an ordinary setting

Viewers felt that the artist was undermining the spirituality of the figures

Almost like turning the light on a Caravaggio painting

Talks about expectations of what art in the 19th century should be, rather turns away from those expectations

Linear hardness similar to 15th century Flemish painting

Ordinary objects can be imbued with symbolism

Carpenter's triangle symbolizes trinity

Ladder references descent from the cross

Dove references Holy Spirit

St. John the Baptist on the right carrying water, foreshadows baptism

The wood foreshadows the wood of the cross