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Period: to
1800 - 1850
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Bonaparte Crossing the St. Bernard Pass
This painting, by Jacques Louis David, commemorates Napoleon leading his troops across the Alps in a military campaign against the Austrians. Napoleon offered David little support in executing the painting. The landscape is treated as a setting for the hero, not as a subject in itself. On the rock to the bottom left the name of Napoleon is carved beside the names of Hannibal and Charlemagne, two other notable figures who led their troops over the Alps. -
Angel of Revolation
“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars." Revelations 10:1. William Blake painting represents many of the details in the biblical passage literally. Apocalyptic subject matter was extremely attractive to Blake, who was skeptical of the pure reason of Enlightenment philosophy and critical of its atheistic tendencies. -
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
ListenThey are the most recognizable four notes in all of music. Those four notes are the basic makeup, not only of the opening movement, but the entire Symphony, appearing in various semblances in each of its four movements. Beethoven’s use of that four-note rhythmic theme to bind the Symphony’s four movements together contributes to the work’s sense of narrative. The symphony became a standard against which many other symphonies were measured. -
Mars, Venus and Cupid
Leopold Kiesling sculpted this piece in 1808 and is a great example of a mythological sculpture of marble. Mythological sculptures generally depict Greek or Roman mythological scenes or figures like Zeus or Hades and are primarily carved from stone or metal. This sculpture stands over seven feet tall is currently on display at the Osterreichische Galerie in Vienna, Austria. -
The entombment of Atala
Anne-Louis Girodet drew his subject from Chateaubriand's Atala, set in America in the 17th century. In a cave, Father Aubry, is supporting the corpse of Atala. Chactas clings passionately to the young woman's knees. Atala, torn between her love for Chactas and the vow she took to remain a virgin, committed suicide. The dead Atala is unrealistically portrayed as an ideal beauty, and he uses the chiaroscuro effect Chactas' back and Atala. -
Study for a monument to Queen Louise
The picture shows a design by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel for a Gothic mausoleum for Prussian Queen Luise. This patron of the arts was deeply mourned and Schinkel chose the Gothic style as a patriotic expression and for its organic natural forms, hinting at nature's processes of renewal and thus of eternal life. As it turned out, the economic conditions after the War of Liberation left Schinkel's vision unrealized. -
Cassandra begging Minerva for vengeance
Cassandra was the virgin priestess of Minerva who was cursed to give true prophecies which no one would believe. Her rape by Ajax incites the wrath of the goddess Minerva and she killed him and his crew at sea. Jerome-Martin Langlois received his training in the studio of Jacques-Louis David, the leading Neoclassical French painter, and became one of his favorite students. -
The Schmadribach waterfall
In this painting by Joseph Anton Koch, the mountain ridge with the cascading waterfall is impressive to the viewer. There is little civilization except for a shepherd standing between a stream and the roughness of nature. Koch is very detailed and shows his extremely sharp painting skills on the mountain range. During the Romantic era, landscape painting gained increasing respect as a pictorial genre equal in importance to historical and religious painting. -
Pride and Prejudice
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Jane Austen wrote her second novel, Pride and Prejudice, in Horacian satire, a gentle satire that points out general human failings. The tone of the novel is simple, light and witty. The main subject of Austen’s novel is an emphasis on man in his social environment rather than his individual conditions, a common form of 18th century literature. -
The raft of the Medusa
An oil painting by Théodore Géricault, this over-life-size painting illustrates a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval ship, Méduse. At least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who survived endured starvation and dehydration and practiced cannibalism. Géricault consciously selected a well-known incident that would generate great public interest and help launch his career. -
Mars being disarmed by Venus and the Three Graces
Mars Being Disarmed by Venus is the last painting produced by Jacques-Louis David. Venus the goddess of love and her followers, the three Graces and Cupid, are shown taking away the weapons, helmet, shield and armor of Mars the god of war. He allows himself to be disarmed and gives in to Venus's charms. This piece is bold and the overall effect is perplexing and unnerving. David painted this piece in a highly colored hard-edged style that may suggest contributions from his Belgian assistants. -
Royal couple mourning for their dead daughter
Karl Friedrich Lessing started as a German landscape painter. After traveling to Düsseldorf, he continued his studies, devoting himself to historical paintings. The subject of this painting was probably taken from a work by the Romantic poet Ludwig Uhland, who was extremely popular among the Düsseldorf artists. This imaginary historical scene reflects a tendency to idealize the remote past that was connected with the beginnings of the movement for German national revival. -
Liberty leading the people
This painting by Eugène Delacroix was a commemoration of the Revolution of 1830. A woman exemplifying the concept and the goddess of Liberty leads the people forward over the bodies of the fallen, holding the flag of the French in one hand and waving a musket with the other. The figure of Liberty is also viewed as a symbol of France and the French Republic known as Marianne. Delacroix depicted Liberty as both a metaphorical goddess-figure and a woman of the people. -
The dying Lucretia
The Dying Lucretia by Damián Campeny y Estany, is an example of a mythological sculpture in the technique of marble. According to legend, St. Lucretia was converted from Islam to Christianity and subsequently persecuted by the Moors, until finally being martyred in 859. The beautiful and virtuous Lucretia was raped by the king’s son, Sextus, while her husband was away. She committed suicide, and Brutus, swore to avenge her. -
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe, located in Paris and is one of the most recognizable structures in the world, was built between 1806 and 1836. The decorative style of the arch is traditional early nineteenth century. Made in honor of those who died in battle, is a compilation of works designed by of James Pradier, Antoine Etex and Jean-Pierre Cortot and Francois Rude. The arch stands at the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle, and is located at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. -
The Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, by Peter Cornelius, fills the whole east wall of the Ludwigskirche in Munich. Below Jesus Christ, the Angel of the Apocalypse holds the Book of Life, angels blow their trumpets and the Archangel Michael divides the Just and the Damned. Cornelius’ painting went against the typical views of religious paintings which called for more movement. The commissioner disassociated himself with the painter and was disappointed because he wanted a piece a kin to that of Michelangelo. -
The Bay of Naples by moonlight
The work of Ivan Aivazovsky can be thought of as a single epic poem of the sea, curiously integrated in its perception of the world. He was born in Feodosia in the Crimea, the son of an Armenian merchant. Even as a child he displayed artistic ability, and particularly liked to draw ships and the sea. -
The Raven
Read The Raven"The Raven" is a narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The poem tells of a talking raven's visit to a troubled lover, following the man's fall into madness over the loss of his love, Lenore. The raven adds to his distress by repeating the word "Nevermore". The poem was inspired by a talking raven in a novel Charles Dickens. The poem was first attributed to Poe in print in the New York Evening Mirror, and although it became widely popular in his lifetime, it did not bring him much financial success. -
Trinity Church, New York
The current Trinity Church is the third to stand on this site. A Gothic Revival structure designed by Richard Upjohn, its 280-foot spire was the highest in the city until the introduction of the skyscraper. The historic Episcopal church stood strong while office towers crumbled around it on September 11, 2001. However, the historic pipe organ was severely damaged by dust and debris and had to be replaced. -
The Cornell Farm
The Cornell Farm is an oil on canvas landscape by Edward Hicks. The picture illustrates the farmland and cattle of Pennsylvanian James Cornell. Hicks employed the direct approach of a folk painter. The horizontal band of livestock across the foreground, ornamental patterned arrangement of fences, and the red and white of the house and barn symmetrically border the landscape. Hicks softly blended his paints over the orchard to give the impression of space existing well beyond what the eye can see -
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of dignity. The book's lasting success are said to be due to the way it addresses spiritual and moral issues from a uniquely American standpoint. The Scarlet Letter was one of the first mass-produced books in America.
