The Enlightenment

1
The Enlightenment

• Also known as Neo-Classicism and Classicism

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Society during The Enlightenment

• The 18th century has often been called the Age
  of Enlightenment. We will focus only on Europe.
• Faith in science, in human rights, human
• reason and progress were abundant
• Progress grew from the assumption that the
• conditions of life could only improve with
• time and that each generation made life
• even better for the following ones.

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Society during The Enlightenment

• Enlightenment, reason and progress are secular
  beliefs. Politics and business superseded
  religion, wrestling leadership from the Church
  (no matter the denomination).
• Tolerance increased and persecution and the
  delivery of corporal punishment for religious,
  political or criminal offenses grew less common
  as the era progresses.
• There was a rapid increase in scientific
  discovery. While the development of physics,
  astronomy and mathematics were still at a primary
  level, new sciences such as mineralogy, botany
  and zoology were discovered.

4
Politics during The Enlightenment

• Frederick II of Hohenzollern exemplified a
  monarch who ruled with the
• best possible interests of the people in general
  at heart.
• This is probably what helped him to stay in power
  while other monarchs
• had their powers curtailed or were guillotined.
• Frederick II began a long career as a patron of
  the arts as soon as he
• came to throne.
• His many achievements, his enthusiasm, and
  musical sophistication
• created an atmosphere in which music could
  flourish.
• He held auditions, commissioned composers,
  evaluated compositions,
• and decided artistic policy.
• He had a great amount of influence on composers
  such as Bach.

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Science and Technology duringThe Enlightenment

• Science went hand in hand with technology.
• Telescopes and microscopes were improved.
• The barometer and thermometer, as well as the
• air pump, steam engine, and the use of coke fuel
• were invented.

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The Enlightenment

• In England, King George III presided over the
  American
• Revolution. The major internal revolution in
  England
• came in 1688 and that led to the monarchy of
  William
• and Mary.
• In France, Louis XV, along with his wife Marie
  Antoinette, saw the
• French Revolution which led wars throughout
  Europe. Napoleons
• coup detat led to a new and explosive century in
  Europe.
• The French Revolution had important effects on
  the arts. The
• Royal Academys control over the production of
  fine art ended, at
• least temporarily. Exhibitions opened
  democratically to all artists.
• The Baroque and Rococo arts faded and the arts
  became
• interested in glorifying virtue---they found
  their models in classical
• (Greek and Roman) antiquity.

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Concepts from The Enlightenment

• Rationalism---the belief that reason forms the
• prime source of knowledge and of spiritual truth.
• Jean-Jaques Rousseau, anarchist, rationalist and
• influential figure, theory was that human beings
• are essentially unhappy, feeble, and frustrated
• human beings trapped in a social environment of
• their own making. He believed that people could
• only be happy and free in a state of nature or,
  
• at most, in a small and simple community.

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Concepts from The Enlightenment

• Empiricism---belief that experience,
• especially of the senses, forms the only
• source of knowledge.
• Humanitarianism---a belief that all men and
• women had a right, as rational creatures, to
• dignity and happiness. They wanted to raise the
• downtrodden from the low social circumstances
• into which ignorance and tyranny had cast them.

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The Enlightenment

• The death of Louis XIV brought to a close a
  magnificent
• French courtly tradition that had championed
  Baroque
• art. Gradually the French court moved to more
  modest
• surroundings.
• Charm, manners and finesse replaced previous
  social
• standards of behavior. This society sought
  refinement of
• detail and décor and delicacy in everything.
• The enlightened individuals believed that a
  classical
• education was essential for all members of the
  upper
• class.

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Rococo

• The change from living in splendor at the palace
  to living in an intimate
• townhouse was shown in the arts. This is often
  referred to as an
• inconsequential version of Baroque and to some
  extent this is true.
• It was essentially decorative and nonfunctional,
  sort of like the declining
• aristocracy it represented. Its intimate grace,
  charm, and delicate
• superficiality reflect the social ideals and
  manners of the time.
• People found that the heaviness of the Baroque
  style lacked in feeling
• and sensitivity. Deep, dramatic, action-filled
  compositions were now
• replaced with lively sparkle and melodrama. Love,
  friendship, sentiment,
• pleasure and sincerity were dominant themes in
  Rococo art.
• None of these characteristics conflict with the
  overall tone of the
• Enlightenment because both had the same goal
  refinement

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• Rococo
• The Swing
• by Jean-Honore Frogonard
• This is an intrique painting. A young
• gentleman has enticed an
• unsuspecting old clerk to swing the
• gentlemans sweetheart higher and
• higher so that he, strategically
• placed, can catch a glimpse up her
• skirt. She, playing along, kicks her
• shoe toward the statue of the god of
• discretion, who holds his finger to his
• lips in a reprimand for being silenced.
• This scene shows frivolous
• naughtiness and sensuality, with lush
• foliage, foaming petticoats and

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The Enlightenment

• In 1748, the excavation of the ruins of the Roman
  city of Pompei, found virtually intact, caused a
  wave of excitement.
• In 1748 the ancient city of Herculaneum was
  partially excavated.
• Alexander Baumgatens book, Aesthetica, used,
  for the first time, the word aesthetics used to
  mean the study and theory of art.
• In 1764, Johann Winckelmanns History of Ancient
  Art was published. In this the author described
  the essential qualities of Greek art as a noble
  simplicity and tranquil loftinessa beautiful
  proportion, order and harmony.
• These values brought the arts of the 18th century
  out of the Baroque era. Herculaneum, Pompeii,
  aesthetic theory, a return to antiquity and the
  simplicity of nature Classicism

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Theatre during The Enlightenment

• The theatre of the Enlightenment saw the growth
  of nationalism.
• Ballad operas were popular in England.
• The first US theatre was built in Williamsburg,
  Virginia.
• Raked stages were popular in the US because of
  British influence.

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Theatre during The Enlightenment

• The frivolous nature of the Rococo style was
• balanced by the biting satire and social comment
• of playwrights who portrayed dramatic scenes
• about moral subjects. They tried to correct
  social
• ill doing by instilling solid middle class
  values.
• They also made fun of the silliness of the
• aristocracy drunkeness, and social cruelty.

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Moliere1622-73

• Moliere (we talked about him in
  Baroque---remember?) provided a comic relief and
  balance to society. He had a great instinct
• for understanding human psychology, used
  fast-paced action, hard language and made gentle,
  but effective, mockery of human foibles
  (mistakes, errors, etc.)
• Tartuffe is a comedy by Moliere, and arguably his
  most famous play. It was first performed in 1664
  at the fetes (village festivals) held at
  Versailles, and almost immediately censored by
  the outcry of the devots, who were very
  influential in the court of King Louis XIV. While
  the king had little interest in suppressing the
  play, he eventually did so because of the dévots.
  
• The word dévots referred to those who claimed to
  be very religious, but as Molière points out in
  Tartuffe, these same people were often religious
  hypocrites.

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Dance during The Enlightenment

• The only way to make ballet more popular is to
  lengthen the dances and shorten the danseuses
  skirts. (André Campra)
• As ballerinas became the most prominent
  performers, their skirts did in fact become
  shorter (to allow for greater freedom of
  movement).

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Dance during The Enlightenment

• Charles Didelot (1767-1837)
• French dancer and choreographer, who introduced
• tights into the ballet
• Attached ballerinas to wires, so they could fly
  in
• and out of scenes
• Because the ballerinas rested on their toes
  while
• attached to the wires, dancing en pointe became
• desirable and fashionable (as it still is today)

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Music during he Enlightenment

• Entertainment led to a change in music. In
• order to draw larger audiences of both the
• aristocracy and the middle class, they had to
• SIMPLIFY the complex Baroque style.
• Music became an artistic art form for the
• purpose of selling tickets to masses of people.
  So,
• it changed to be easier and more pleasant to
  listen
• to.

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Musical Characteristics During the Enlightenment

• Delicate, Pretty, Simple Melodies
• Easily remembered tunes
• Short melodic phrases with repetition
  ornamentation
• Ordered, symmetrical, formal
• Logical and UNDERSTANDABLE

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Forms and Styles of Music during the Enlightenment

• Theme Variation theme is stated and repeated
  with
• minor changes
• Rondo sections of music while always repeating
  the
• A section (ABACADA)

LISTEN Canon in D
LISTEN Rondo Alla Turca Everybody March
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Forms and Styles of Music during the Enlightenment

• String Quartet (Chamber Music) music for
  performance in a small room (2 violins, viola and
  cello)
• LISTEN for a small, simple sound
• Symphony large orchestra piece with many
  movements (sections)
• LISTEN for a large, full sound

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New and Improved Instrumentsduring the
Enlightenment

• Piano Makes dynamics in
• music possible (loud/soft)
• Orchestras - now use percussion,
• woodwind and brass instruments
• to support the strings

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Musical Developments during the Enlightenment

• Dynamics now players are able to control the
  volume of the music
• Examples pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff
• Structure and FORM composers wrote music to fit
  a specific format
• Examples Rondo, String Quartet

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Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809)

• Born in Austria
• Worked for the Esterhazy Royal Family
• Forced Prince to leave vacation by composing a
  piece
• where players left the stage one by one
• Started writing symphonies in 1757 and improved
• symphonic style (long and sophisticated)
• Wrote 104 symphonies
• Surprise Symphony
• In this symphony, Haydn used DYNAMICS in order to
  wake up unsuspecting audience members.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

• Born in Austria
• Child Prodigy toured with father and sister
• from age 6-16
• Composed first song at age 5
• Composed a piece of music for every kind of
  instrument
• Known for symphonies and operas
• Had topsy-turvy career
• Married against his fathers will and couldnt
  manage money
• Music was light and entertaining until his father
  died, then his
• music changed dramatically and became very dark
• Mystery surrounding his death

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

• Had a rough childhood
• Early music more Classical sounding
• Later music moves to a more Romantic sound
• (longer, dramatic, emotional)
• Went deaf in his later years, but continued
  composing
• His deafness caused him to withdraw from social
  settings
• He never married
• Had a bad temper
• Composed many types of music including 9
  Symphonies

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Portraiture

• Portraits were also regarded as legal documents.
• A wedding portrait was as good as a certificate
  on
• paper, and a landscape could also function as a
• deed under certain conditions.
• Robert Andrews and his wife are shown with their
• property, thereby proving their ownership as well
  
• as preserving their appearance for posterity.

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Thomas Gainsborough Robert Andrews and His
Wife
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II Shortly After the Marriage
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Satire in Art

• Satire is a technique used in all media.
• It is usually witty, and often very funny, but
  the purpose is primarily criticism of an event,
  an individual or a group.
• Marriage a la Mode is typical of Hogarths
  satirical work, and focuses on the practice of
  arranged marriage.

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Visual Art during the Enlightenment

• Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825)
• illustrates the new obsession with
• the Classical Greek and Roman.
• His work, propagandist in nature,
• sought to inspire French patriotism
• and democracy.
• In both The Death of Socrates and
• The Oath of Horatii we will see that David
  expresses his political
• ideas using Greek and Roman themes.
• In both cases, the subjects suggest a devotion to
  ideals so strong
• that one should be prepared to die in their
  defense

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Davids Neo-Classicism did more than copy ancient
works. He used classical detail, stories, and
principles selectively and often adapted them to
suit his own artistic purposes.
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Jacques-Louis David

• David became an ardent supporter of Napoleon and
• retained under him the dominant social and
  artistic
• position which he had previously held. Between
  1802
• and 1807 he painted a series of pictures
  glorifying the
• exploits of the Emperor, among them the enormous
• Coronation of Napoleon (Louvre, 1805-07). These
  works
• show a change both in technique and in feeling
  from
• the earlier Republican works. With the fall of
  Napoleon,
• David went into exile in Brussels.

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Coronation of Napoleon
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Visual Art during the Enlightenment

• In America, neo-classicism had a special
• meaning, as the colonies struggled to rid
• themselves of the monarchial rule of
• George III of England. For the
• Revolutionary colonists, classicism meant
• Greece and Greece meant democracy.
• The designs of colonial architect Thomas
  Jefferson (yes,
• the former President), reflect the ideas of this
  period.
• He was influenced by Palladio (a very popular
  architect
• from the Renaissance)

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Thomas Jefferson

• Political philosopher a philosopher in favor
• of the rights of man.
• Achieved distinction as a president, vice-
• president, governor, secretary of state, an
• author, horticulturist, architect,
• archaeologist, a paleontologist, an inventor, and
  the founder of the University of Virginia
• And, an architect!

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Jeffersons country home, Monticello, consists of
a central structure with attached Doric porticos
(porches). We also see Doric entablatures on each
wing of the home. We see simplicity and
refinement and a home that appeals to the
intellect and the sensibilities.
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University of Virginia Rotunda
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Virginia State Capitol