Neoclassical Essay

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Neoclassical Neoclassical is the artistic style of the late 1700s in Europe. It is sometimes called neoclassicism, a revival of the styles and spirit of classic antiquity inspired directly from the classical Greece and Rome which coincided and reflected the developments in philosophy and other areas of the Age of Enlightenment. The term "Neoclassical" was not invented until the mid-19th century, and before the style was described by terms as "the true style", "reformed" and "revival“. It coincided with the 18th century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, later competing with Romanticism. Initially it was a reaction against the excesses of the preceding Rococo and Baroque style and is described as the opposed counterpart of Romanticism. Neoclassicism first gained influence in England and France, through a generation of French students trained in Rome and influenced by the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the spokesman of neoclassical art. The writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann,”the father of archeaology”, were important in shaping this movement in both architecture and the visual arts. His books, Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture and Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums ("History of Ancient Art") were the first to distinguish between Ancient Greek and Roman art, and define periods within Greek art, tracing a trajectory from growth to maturity and then imitation that continues to have influence to the present day. He believed that art should aim at "noble simplicity and calm grandeur", and praised the idealism of Greek art. His emphasis on close copying of Greek models was: "The only way for us to become great or, if this be possible, inimitable, is to imitate the ancients". Examples from ancient painting that demonstrated the qualities that Winckelmann's writing found in sculpture were and are
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