Napoleon & arts

Research Question: (11 words)
How did Napoleon’s rule influence the art movements of his time?

Plan of Investigation: (139 words)
1. When will the research be done?
a) Class time, time available
b) At free class
c) At home
d) Weekends
2. How will research be done?
a) Define research question
b) Identify sources
c) Speak with instructor and others for guidance
d) Search for relativeinformation about the theme
3. What are my sources?
a) Library
b) Internet
1) Online articles (Digital Library)
2) Online books (Google)
4. Areas of investigation:
a) What was the Napoleonic time?
b) What is Neoclassicism?
1) How did it start? When?
2) How was it?
3) What themes was it about?
4) How did it end? When?
c) Famous painters of neoclassicism.
1) Paintings.
2) How theystarted or how was they work?
d) How was the Napoleonic influence reflected in art?
1) What did he want? What did he ask for?
 
Summary of Information: (564 words)
After all the things that happened during the French Revolution, France became a democracy, putting an end to the aristocracy. From late 1790’s to 1815, Napoleon was the governor of France, and he had a lot of power in all Europe.During this time, one of the most important art movements in France was named Neoclassicism.
• The Neoclassicism began in Europe, in the late 1700’s; but France and England were the countries where this movement took more importance. It was about emphasizing sacrifice, courage, nationalism and tradition. “Neoclassicism was a widespread and influential movement in painting that began in the late18th century and reached its height in the work of the French painter Jacques-Louis David”. (Buchel)
• The movement started as a rebellion against the Rococo style, which symbolized the French aristocracy. When Napoleon came into power in France in the 1790's, he wished to model the government on the high virtues and moral principles of classical Rome; also he influenced the direction ofneoclassicism. Napoleon instructed French artists to take the neoclassical subject from ancient Roman to modern history. Also he asked many neoclassical artists to paint him as a national hero. Even architecture and interior design began to reflect the neoclassical period.
Jacques-Louis David was one of the leading neoclassical painters. He painted “The Oath of the Haratti” five years before the FrenchRevolution began, but it illustrated the artistic ideals of neoclassicism. It was like the beginning of neoclassicism. “His paintings were message-oriented and he omitted distracting details and painterly effects. He painted simple, solid figures in vibrant colors.” (Neoclassical Movement in French Painting)
• Later, and with Napoleon rising power, many artists began to abandon the simplicitycharacterized in David's work. They started to include more important historical figures in their paintings and made the action look more complicated. Also painters attached great importance to depicting the costumes, settings, and details of their classical subject matter with as much historical accuracy as possible. “Classical history and mythology provided a large part of the subject matter ofneoclassical works such as the poetry of Homer, Virgil and Ovid; the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and history recorded by Pliny, Plutarch, Tacitus, and Livy provided the classical sources.” (Neoclassicism- Paintings) However, artists continued painting solid figures in bright colors such as David’s.
One of the many artists who studied in David's large studio was Jean-Auguste-DominiqueIngres. Unlike his teacher, Ingres did not involve himself in politics and spent most of his youth in Italy, returning to France only after the restoration of the monarchy. During his long life, he came to be regarded as the high priest of neoclassicism, pursuing its perfection after younger artists were painting based on the romanticism. Ingres was a brilliant master of color.
“In 1820 He changed...