ARTH 098. Interpreting the Classical Tradition: Neoclassicism and Romanticism

This seminar will focus on conceptions of the “Classical” during the artistic and literary movements known as Neoclassicism (1750-1850) and Romanticism (1800-1850). Neoclassicism was a period of new attitudes towards Greco-Roman antiquity that were stimulated by archaeological discoveries extending from Italy and the Mediterranean to Egypt and the Near East. Whereas Neoclassicism interpreted the “Classical” as calm and restrained in feeling and clear and complete in expression, Romanticism subsequently viewed antiquity as characterized by a highly imaginative and subjective approach, emotional intensity, and a visionary quality.

Seminar topics will include: art, architecture, decorative arts, neoclassical and romantic aesthetic theory, German philhellenism, the discipline of Classical Philology, and romantic Hellenism.

We will consider the works of artists and architects such as: Jacques-Louis David, Piranesi, Robert Adam, Blake, Angelica Kauffman, Ingres, Hamilton, Benjamin West, Canova, Flaxman, and Nash. Readings will include Winckelmann, Goethe, Shelley, Nietzsche, adaptation theory, and translation theory.
Eligible for CLST 091, CLST 091A, INTP 091
Arts and Humanities.
1 credit.
Spring 2024. Reilly. Ledbetter.
Catalog chapter: Art History
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/art-history

Access the class schedule to search for sections.