Neoclassicism

France was on the brink of its first revolution in 1789.

late 1700s

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This portrait of an unnamed woman speaks volumes about slavery, politics, and gender in revolutionary France.

As the low candles and late hour suggest, Napoleon is short on time. David captures the twilight of his reign.

Rendering the grief of wives and daughters, David depicts the wrenching domestic aftermath of personal sacrifice.

The novelist Stendhal called this sculpture “the greatest work of modern times.” Canova disagreed.

Uniting ancient Greek purity with Gothic daring, this church marked a new direction for French architecture.

This Neoclassical monument to Napoleon’s army was modeled on an ancient Roman temple in Nîmes, just much bigger.

Napoleon’s sister courted controversy and posed semi-nude for Canova, who sculpted her as a modern-day Venus.

This Swiss-born artist painted Roman stories with moralizing messages. Here, Cornelia provides a model of virtue.

Was this the beginning of the end for David—or a new dawn? As far as portraits of Napoleon go, there’s none better.

This idealized portrait celebrates Republican ideals and memorializes a Revolutionary martyr in the pose of Christ.

Rejecting the Rococo, artists valued moderation and favored a clear drawing style more in line with the times.

In style and story, this rigorously organized canvas looked back to antiquity; it soon became an icon of Revolution.

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