Romanticism in Art

General Trends of Romanticism

• loved undisturbed nature like in north Africa

• feared nature

• had strong emotion (lust, love, passion, hatred) NOT reason

• passion/emotion were the key to truth + virtue, rejected Enlightenment

• seances: candles present, spiritual summoning

• religion tied to a caring God, paranormal and supernatural

• stressed personal freedom + flexibility

• bought Egyptian mummies to grind up and drink as tea

Fishermen at Sea by Joseph Turner

• depicts man vs. ocean (nature)

• industrialization still doesn't match up to nature

The Wanderer Above The Mists by Casper David Friedrich (German)

• depicts untouched nature = love of nature

• the subject is not tied down with jobs (they are a wanderer)

• the subject is facing the mountain + is faceless = it could be anyone

Liberty Leading the People (July 28, 1830) by Eugene Delacroix

• liberty (depicted as a woman) is leading the people

• the working class surround liberty

The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken up by Joseph Turner

• depicts a modern tugboat pulling an older boat

• the sun is setting, indicating a new age

• the older boat is beautiful, swamped in gold and white, and the tugboat taking it to be destroyed is ugly = dislike of the new industrial age

3 May 1808 by Francisco Goya

• the civilian is depicted with a likeness to Christ to reflect on the French's brutality against civilians in Spain