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Period: 1300 to
Renaissance
Renaissance art mirrored society at the time and its humanism with its focus on the human form. It also paralleled scientific discoveries at the time with its incorporation of geometry into paintings and architecture. It also had a focus on classical antiquity, as the Renaissance time period was based on the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Latin culture. -
1512
Michelangelo's Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Painted ceiling by Michelangelo -
1532
Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince
Book by Niccolò Machiavelli -
Period: to
Baroque
Baroque art was grandiose and extravagant. It mirrored society in that the Catholic Church supported its magnificence to counteract the minimalist of the protestants. Its artists used such grandeur and color in order to set themselves apart from Renaissance and Mannerist artists. -
Cervantes' Don Quixote
Miguel de Servantes' Baroque book Don Quixote -
Rembrandt's The Night Watch
Baroque painting by Rembrandt -
Watteau's Pilgrimage on the Isle of Cythera
Rococo painting by Antoine Watteau -
Period: to
Rococo
Rococo art featured theatrical scenes with light colors, asymmetry, and many curves. It was a reaction to the more formal style of Louis XIV. -
Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions
Johann Sebastian Bach wrote several musical compositions throughout his life, including organ music, harpsichord music, and church music. -
Period: to
Neoclassicism
Neoclassical art was very simplistic and symmetric. It reacted directly against Rococo's ornamental and asymmetric style. It mirrored society as European youths went on Grand Tours around Europe and found Neoclassical ideas as a result. -
Goethe's The Sorrow of Young Werther
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Romantic novel -
Period: to
Romanticism
Romanticism featured emotion, the individual, and the unique. It mirrored society in that it was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the spread of reason to every aspect of society. -
David's Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David's Neoclassicist painting -
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
Musical Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven -
Friedrich's Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog
Caspar David Friedrich's Romantic painting -
Period: to
Impressionism
Impressionist art used small, noticeable brushstrokes, features ordinary things, and focused on light. This mirrored society as it grew due to the actions of French Emperor Napoleon III. -
Monet's Impression, Sunrise
Impressionist painting by Claude Monet -
Debussy's Claire de Lune
Impressionist composition by Clause Debussy -
Munch's The Scream
Edvard Munch's Expressionist painting -
Period: to
Expressionism
Expressionist art was supposed to show the artists' emotions rather than depict reality. It was subjective and featured emotion. It mirrored German society because it was a time period of high emotion due to economic and social troubles. -
Picasso's Three Musicians
Cubist painting by Pablo Picasso -
O'Neill's The Hairy Ape
Eugene O'Neill's expressionist play -
Period: to
Surrealism
Surreal art showed the illogical; it showed nonsensical forms that seemed realistic. It was an expression of the unconscious. It mirrored the nihilist movement that occurred in European society as a result of the death and destruction caused by World War II. -
Dalí's The Persistence of Memory
Salvador Dali's surreal painting -
Period: to
Abstract Expressionism
Abstract Expressionism highlighted the spontaneous and the unconscious in its shapes. It was a post-World War II movement because it was a combination of surrealism and expressionism. -
Pollock's Shimmering Substance
Jackson Pollock's Abstract Impressionist painting