Course Content
Technical Support
1-800-234-5832
M–Th: 8:00A.M.–Midnight EST
F: 8:00A.M.–10:00P.M. EST
Lesson Plans
Art History ©1999
by Marilyn Stokstad
Focus Lesson 14
Chapter 26: "Neoclassicism and Romanticism in Europe and the United States"
AP* Course Description
- Renaissance to Present
- Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
- Nineteenth Century
Key Components
- Instructor's Resource Manual with Tests, Vol. II: pp . 42–45, 79–80, 142–147, 191–194
- Study Guide, Vol. II: pp. 81–93
Key Web Sites
Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Check the Online Companion Web site for updated information and links to other sites.
Key Words and Terms
- history painting
- Grand Manner
- contraposto
- bust
- vedute
- capriccio
- landscape painting
- bird's-eye view
- picturesque
- cameos
- elevation
- pediments
- landscape architecture
- rosette
- kiln
- folio
- Salons voussoirs
- crenellated battlements
- tracery
- turrets
- watercolor
- historicist
- portico
- sublime
- Prix de Rome
- odalisque
- frontispiece
Suggested Pacing
The material contained in this chapter should take approximately one week to cover. You might also combine elements of this chapter with those of Chapters 19 and 27 to keep the strands of American and French painting separate.
Test Strategy
Section I of the AP* test consists of 115 questions that will account for 40 percent of the adjusted score for the test. Part A is based on slides and Part B contains text-only based questions or sentence completions. It is important when answering multiple-choice questions in which answer choices have more than one part that students make sure all parts of an answer choice are correct before selecting that answer. This may seem obvious, but in the hurry to answer as many questions as possible, students may not look closely at answer choices and select the first one that has a correct first part.
Key Concepts
- The Enlightenment
The majority of the art and architecture discussed in this chapter was influenced by Enlightenment philosophy, a major current in Western thought. Neoclassical art in particular showed the influence of the Enlightenment in its choice of subject matter—for example, David's Oath of the Hotatii or Death of Socrates. Later works, such as Goya's Third of May, 1808 should be seen as a reaction to the Enlightenment. - Neoclassicism versus Romanticism
One theme of this chapter is the contrast between Neoclassicism and Romanticism. By the end of the chapter, students should be able to analyze the differences between these two styles in terms of composition, choice of subject matter, proportion, color, and so on. Understanding the distinction between these two styles is especially important in French painting, where the inheritors of these artistic traditions will become the earliest modernists. - Influence of Napoleon
Students should be aware of the influence of Napoleon on French art by being able to identify which artists worked for Napoleon, which were sympathetic to his regime, and which were opposed to it. They should consider David, Ingres, Gros, Delacroix, and Goya. A central question for students to discuss is how important a role Napoleon's patronage played in the art of this period. - The American identity
Artists in the new United States of America tried to capture the spirit of their fledgling republic in their art, but comparing the art of the young nation with that of its European antecedents reveals strong influences, as well as new unique forms such as naturalistic painting (pp. 974–975).
Summing Up Student Understanding
Assign each student an etching from Goya's Los Caprichos series or an illustration by William Blake. Have students do research about their image, and make a five-minute presentation to the class about it. You might have students work together if they are assigned related images, or you might assign groups to present more complicated material.
Challenge students to be creative in their use of audiovisual media and in the way they structure their presentation. They might download images from the Web and transfer them into overheads, or make color copies for their classmates. They might use also want to use PowerPoint to create their presentation if equipment is available.
In their presentations, students should explain the meaning of the image they were assigned—political/satirical in the case of Goya or religious in the case of Blake. Many of Blake's paintings are meant to accompany a poem; students could present the poem to support their points. Students will need to be aware of the politics and history of Goya's time/Blake's personal religious beliefs in order to interpret these works.