4.3- The Influences on the Classical Era

Politics

The American Revolution 1776 — 1781

[audio:americanrevolution.mp3]

The Reasons

  • Taxation:   Stamp Act
  • Trials without Juries:   Judges paid by the fines they levied on the guilty
  • Housing and accommodating troops:   Writs of Assistance, Billeting Act

The Results

  • Declaration of Independence
  • A Sovereign Nation
  • Founded on Enlightenment Ideals
  • Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
  • The Foundations for Democracy Based on Classical Antiquities
  • Bill of Rights

The French Revolution 1789-1799

[audio:frenchrevolution.mp3]

Overview – and more

The Reasons

The Situation progresses

Coup D’Etat

Napoleon Bonaparte 1769-1821
For more indepth study

  • Roman Model — First Consul
  • Triumph of the Common man
  • Voted in as Consul for Life
  • Declared Himself Emperor
  • Napoleonic Code

The Industrial Revolution

[audio:industrial.mp3]

Rationale for industrial enterprise

Religion

[audio:religion.mp3]
  • No Longer on the Cutting Edge
  • Relative Religious Stability
  • Overshadowed by Secular Concerns
  • Overshadowed by the Philosophy of Enlightenment

Sciences

The Revolution of Sciences

[audio:scienceoverview.mp3]

Sir Isaac Newton – 164-1727

Physics and the Forces of the Universe

The Encyclopedia

  • Denis Diderot 1713-84
  • The Menace of the Encyclopedia[audio:diederot.mp3]
  • 28 volumes containing all of human knowledge
  • Thousands of illustrations

The Classification System
Carolus Linnaeus 1707-78

Not only can humans know everything, but they can catalog it too!

The Discovery of Pompeii – 1738

[audio:Pompeii.mp3]

Architecture

Rococo Architecture – an overview

Rococo – The term is possibly related to rocaille — decorative work made from pebbles and shells

[audio:rococosalons.mp3]
  • Strongly connected to Baroque sensibilities
  • Refined some of the elaborate aspects of the Baroque style
  • Preferred style of the French aristocracy
    The Enlightenment defined itself by its conflict with this style

Fanciful interior spaces — The Salon

Photograph of a Rococo Revival Parlor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Photograph of a Rococo Revival Parlor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Dressing room in the Gatchina Palace. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Dressing room in the Gatchina Palace. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

  • Gilded
  • Ornate scrolls
  • Asymmetrical
  • Curved lines
  • Very light and feminine

Neoclassical Architecture

[audio:neoclassicalstyle.mp3]

Use of elements from Greek and Roman Ruins

  • Columns
  • Arches
  • Symmetry
  • Proportion
  • Flat interior walls
  • Dominated by regularity, reason and logic

Neoclassical Architecture and America – short video lecture

European Neoclassical Architecture

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Posted on April 24th, 2009 at 5:01 pm and last modified on September 28th, 2020 at 1:09 pm, and is filed under 4.0 Classical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to “4.3- The Influences on the Classical Era”

  1. Chet DelSignore writes:
    No. 1 — February 28th, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    My thoughts exactly regarding dusting all that stuff. My mom’s got a fetish for ornate shelf-top decorative statuary and fancy clutter in her home– a dusting nightmare! Nice to see the Rococco architecture, at a distance.

  2. Art, Music, and Morality in the Classical Era | chanda in fairbanks. writes:
    No. 2 — March 8th, 2013 at 7:48 am

    […] <https://amtf200.community.uaf.edu/2009/04/24/02-the-influences/&gt; […]

  3. Art and Scientific Discovery in the 1700’s | satemple writes:
    No. 3 — October 15th, 2013 at 11:44 pm

    […] 1) “Art Music Theater F200.” Art Music Theater F200 RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. – Link […]