Historical Context of Artworks - Essay Example

Analysis of the historical context of Artworks Other (s) Analysis of the historical context of Artworks The Death of Socrates Painting by Jacques-Louis David Painted in 1787 with a stoic theme, “The death of Socrates” is arguably one of Jacques-Louis David’s most perfect neoclassical pieces of art. The painting particularly focused on a classical subject where Socrates was supposedly being punished by execution for having criticized the tyrant leadership of Athens. Although Socrates was given the option of going to exile or drinking poison, he chose to die rather than fleeing. In the painting, Socrates is seen calmly sitting surrounded by other men who are visibly distressed. A young man is handing a cup to him while looking away. With regard to the historical context of the painting, the Death of Socrates painting was completed just a few years before the French revolution. It is arguable that the iconic piece of art may have been particularly inspired by the socio-political climate that existed in France at the time of its commission. For example, this was the period when the calls for reforms were increasingly heating up and, therefore, David may have chosen the neoclassical subject as a means advancing the call for self sacrifice and commitment to ideals in the face of oppression and death just like Socrates did (Vidal 596). The painting also portrays the message of martyrdom as Socrates was considered to be a martyr for his ideals and beliefs. However, for the contemporaries of the time, the painting could have been a reflection of the number of political prisoners who were faced with execution of exile. The corrupt French monarchy of the time had also just crushed the earlier attempts to reforms before eventually dissolving the Assembly of Notables in 1787. Additionally, during the painting of “The death of Socrates”, the artist Jacques-Louis David may also have wanted to reflect the Enlightenment values of the late 18th century that particularly emphasized on the importance of human freedom from religion and corrupt regimes as well as the value of standing up for ideals, rights and principles. Most of these concepts were clearly illustrated in the story of the death of Socrates. David was a strong supporter of reforms and revolutionary principles. Consequently, on the eve of the French revolution, the painting served a call for resistance and duty in the face of unjust authority. The Public Viewing David’s Coronation at the Louvre This is a picture of people viewing another picture. The painting particularly shows people viewing an enormous picture of Napoleon during the crowning of Empress Josephine. The picture “David’s Coronation at the Louvre” was exhibited on several occasions at the Louvre between 1808 and 1810. In this painting, a military man is seen reading some description to enable the public viewers to effectively identify some of the figures depicted in David’s picture. On the far right, Boilly is seen scattering other information among the spectators. The artist, Lous-Leopold Boily was a gifted artist who used his paintings to vividly document the social life of the French middle class of his time. His works particularly spanned the eras of the French monarchy, the French revolution, the Napoleonic rule until the July monarchy. On the other hand, Jacques-Louis David who painted the picture that was being viewed was one of the most influential French painters in the neoclassical era. David’s coronation at the louvre is considered one the noticeable cerebral painting brands in the 1780s history of painting. His cerebral brand of painting marked the change in taste from the Rococo superficiality towards a conventional austerity and cruelty. The subject of Boilly’s painting of “The Public Viewing David’s Coronation at the Louvre” was to depict how the Napoleon was idolized by the French citizens during the time of Boilly’s time. The heroic display of people assembling to view a bigger than normal painting of the emperor would have also been used to represent the strong revolutionary feelings that existing across all the social classes in the 18th century France. In 1810 when the painting was completed, a number of important events were taking place. For example, the French empire under general Napoleon had reached its greatest extent. According to Baines (88), with the continuation of the Napoleonic wars, Boilly’s picture may have also been painted after some news of the French victories. The increasing militarization of France during the Napoleon era is particularly evidenced in the painting by the presence of a military man reading some description to enable the public viewers to effectively identify some of the figures depicted in David’s picture. Jacques-Louis paintings are some of the most influential art works in the neoclassical era. David’s coronation at the louvre is considered one the noticeable cerebral painting brands in the 1780s political revolution. The nationalism of David’s artwork greatly influenced the French revolution. The death of Marat in his paintings is one of the famous images of revolution showing the murder of a French leader Jean-Paul Marat. This influential painting shows one of radical reporters lying dead in his bath on July 13th 1793 after his manslaughter by Charlotte Corday. All these paintings influenced the French nationalism as all of David’s paintings took the stuff of politics as its material and did not transmute them towards nationalism. The napoleon coronation is an outstanding representation of as an en early 19th century leader who greatly understood the cult of political personality and all the other processes involved in the sophisticated painting art towards shaping of the public image. David’s vast interest to power in this French revolution era was a based on a political propaganda which finally, through his artwork changed the people’s point of view as depicted in his hymns of the revolutionary ideals in the oath of the Horati, Brutus. The Antechamber of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio The Antechamber of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio was painted in the year1765 by a famous artist known as Frascsco Guradi. The unusual piece of art was particularly done by Guradi to offer a vivid depiction of the Vemetian public life of the time. The setting is most likely to have been the Liago anteroom to the famous council chamber in Palazzo which was the capital of the Venetian Republic. Although the space depicted in the painting has been telescoped, all the major details are accurately shown. The historical context of the painting of the antechamber of the Sala Del Maggior Consiglio in traced back in Europe in the 1700 and 1900s. During this period in around the year 1700, Tiepolo moved to Spain in order to fresco the ceiling of the throne room in the majestic palace in the city of Madrid where he later died while still undertaking the royal palace’s fresco to ceiling. During his eight years of artwork he made about six modelli for the ceilings of the rooms of the palace and seven altarpieces for the Charles’s III’s sanctuary at the Aranjuez. These Sala Del Maggio consiglo artworks even after the death of Tiepolo eight years later still remains some of the finely and uniquely undertaken artworks in the palace during rein of Charles III. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is always distanced from other artists through his monochromatic and allegorical figured paintings against a neutral colour background. Works Cited Baines, Paul. The Long 18th Century. London: Arnold Publishers Ltd.2004.Web.3 December, 2013. Vidal, Mary. “David among the Moderns: Art, Science, and the Lavoisiers.” Journal of the History of Ideas56.4 (1995):595-623. Print. Read More