Day 57 - Neoclassicism

During the Enlightenment a revival of interest in Greece and Rome gave rise to the artistic movement during the late 18th century known as Neoclassicism.  Neoclassicism incorporated the subjects, themes and styles of ancient Greek and Roman art culturally, artistically, and in architectural, which grew out of the response against Rococo.

The geometric harmony of the architecture and simple lines appealed to people during this time and the themes and mythology began to crop up in paintings once again.  Excavations of Herculaneum begun in 1738 and Pompeii in 1748 fueled the renewed interest and murals based on artwork unearthed appeared in European town houses such as the "Etruscan Room" in Osterley Park House in Middlesex, begun in 1761.

Painters reveled in the simple backdrops of Greek and Roman architecture but portraying the scenes with a modern sensibility using light and shadow to depict events of ancient history. 

A design for one of the walls of the Estruscan
dressing room at Osterley Park by Robert Adam.

Joseph Marie Vien (1716-1809), Sweet Melancholy. Vien’s
painting Sweet Melancoly can be regarded as one of the
first neoclassical paintings in France inspired by
Pompei and Roman antiquity.

References:

1. Gardner's Art Through the Ages, A Global History, 13th ed., by Fred S. Kleiner - Chapter 29
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osterley_Park
3. http://www.neoclassic.com/the-importance-of-joseph-marie-vien-for-the-neoclassical-art.html