The History of History Painting in Nineteenth-Century France From Classical Allusions to Painting of Everyday Life

Mary Brink

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Hassold, Cris

Keywords

French Painting, History Painting, Nineteenth-Century

Area of Concentration

Art History

Abstract

During the nineteenth century, history painting in France underwent a radical change. Over time they became much more contemporary in nature. History paintings usually supported the regime in power. Traditionally, history paintings had had ancient or mythological subjects. These subjects often illustrated a moral lesson commenting on immediate contemporary events. Over time this connection to the contemporary world became explicit. Important contemporary events became worthy of depiction in their own right, without the need for the intermediary of an ancient subject. Later, as a result of changes in the government, most works were no longer created solely to support the current regime. The rapid turnover of governments meant that fewer works were commissioned: this increased the number of works that were created without governmental support. As a result, artists began to depict subjects that often critiqued the current regime. However, later, artists moved away from the depicting contemporary events of great historical importance. They began to depict everyday subjects, often showing scandalous aspects of society- such as the middle and lower classes and even courtesans.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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