One of the isms - that was not political.

Romanticism - word first used in English (1840)

Romanticism - a theory of literature and the arts, permeated philosophy
                        and political thought (conservatism)
                      - complex movement

Central message: the imagination of the individual should determine the form and content of an artistic creation.

1. Romantics - denounced the rationalism of the philosophes ( it crushed emotions and impeded creativity)

2. Romantics - emphasized human uniqueness  - distinctive traits of each human being (/ philosophers concentrated on people in general)

3. Romantics - believed that reason could function if nourished by poetic imagination

4. Romantics - poets, artists, and musicians - broke with traditional styles - created new cultural forms and techniques. (Enlightenment - standards of esthetics - thought to be universal - stressed technique and form and tended to confine the imagination)

5. Romantics - explored the inner life of the mind (Freud would call - the unconscious.

6. Nature (Enlightenment) - a lifeless machine. R: nature - alive and vital, suffused with God presence.

7. Enlightenment - God: watchmaker, observer of a self operating mechanical universe (religion - reduced to a series of scientific propositions); R: God - a spiritual force that inspired humanity.

8. Philosophy of Enlightenment: Middle Ages = an era of darkness, superstition, and fanaticism; medieval institutions - barriers to progress. R: Middle Ages - full of heroic deeds, noble sentiments, and social harmony.

9. Romantics - interested in folk traditions ( the philosophes of the Enlightenment - dismissed as peasant superstitions and impediments to progress) - instrumental in shaping modern nationalism.

==>> Romantic revolt against Enlightenment - had an important and enduring impact on European history.

>by encouraging personal freedom and flexibility in art, music, and literature - the romantics - enriched European cultural life
>by valuing a nation's past - contributed to modern nationalism and conservatism
>by focusing on the creative capacities inherent in emotions - romantics shed light on a side of human nature previously overlooked or undervalued.

Exponents:

England:     Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley

France:        Victor Hugo, Chateaubriand

Germany:     Schiller, the Schlegers

The fundamental romantic attitude - love of the unclassifiable - of moods and impressions, scenes and stories
Romantics - loved the mysterious, the unknown >>>contributed to the interest in strange and distant societies, in strange and distant epochs.

Their interest in the Middle Ages (viewed with respect and nostalgia) > Gothic Revival  (British Parliament buildings -1830)

Romantics - in medieval art and institutions - saw the expression of an inner genius.

Original and creative genius - fundamental romantic beliefs.

the genius = dynamic spirit, made its own rules and laws.
                     individual person (the artist, writer, Napoleon like mover of the
                     world); spirit of an age; genius of a people or nation ( the
                     Volksgeist of Herder)

Romantics - movement
                  - nature, the power of nature
                  - death, loneliness

Painting:

Romanticism - attitude and themes- not a clear style

David - A Marat -
           the painter of the Revolution

Theodore Gericault - The Raft of Medusa
Eugene Delacroix
Ingres
            interest in far away lands and exotic themes
            rich colors
            open space ( the story goes beyond the frame)

Francisco de Goya (Spain)
William Turner (England)