Romantic Artists: Goya and Delacroix

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, during the romantic movement in Spain and France, which is described as an anti-intellectual movement in both art and literature, artists of this tradition actively commented against the traditions of aristocratic domination of politics and societal norms and supported the rise of nationalism. The author points out that both Goya and Delacroix related their artistic visions and imagination to actual events and made political statements through their depiction of war. The paper explores this theme in Goya's "The Third of May 1808", which he created in response to the tyranny of Napoleon's forces, and in Delacroix's "Massacres at Chios, 1824", which was his objection to the continuing social repression of the professional and peasant classes.

From the Paper:

"The decades preceding and following the turn of the 18th century were violent and bloody. It was an era of much political and social upheaval where people, ranging from both intellectual and educated to peasants, began to question the role and power of the aristocracy whom they began to view as irresponsible despots . In particular, the divine right of royalty was questioned along with the rules they imposed upon their subjects as well as the war atrocities they caused. Artists, including painters began to portray the fall out of this political upheaval."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Nina (December 1, 2001). Blemished physiologies: Delacroix, Paganini, and the cholera epidemic of 1832. The Art Bulletin.
• Perl, Jed. On Art - Old Modern Spain (November 24, 2003). The New Republic.
• Rosenblum, Robert and H.W. Janson (1984). 19th Century Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Incorportated.
• Rubin, James H. (June 22, 1993). Delacroix's Dante and Virgil as a romantic manifesto: politics and theory in the early 1820s. Art Journal.

More papers on Romantic Artists: Goya and Delacroix:

• Analytical Essay # 129441 : "Goya and Delacroix's Romantic Pictures and Political Messages"
• Essay # 85423 : "Goya and Delacroix Political Concepts"
• Comparison Essay # 133774 : "Two Kinds of Portaiture in Goya and Moroni"

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