Neo-Classical Sculpture & Architecture

Attributed to John Flaxman, Five Muses, 1778-80

- John Flaxman was an extremely successful sculptor, however his is not as famous as some of his contemporaries. His Five Muses displays the archaeological element to his works. His designs were industrialised by Wedgewood, a patron of art and design.

Soufflot, St. Genevieve/Pantheon, 1755-90s, Paris

- Soufflot's Pantheon has various influences, e.g. the dome is clearly influenced by Bramante's Tempietto. It's walls are very blank, with no windows. It is a mausoleum for the heroes of the republic.

Ledoux, Barriere la Villette, 1784, Paris

- Ledoux was another Neo-Classical architect. The arches of his Barriere la Villette are very much like those seen in the background of David's Oath of Horatii. 

Ledoux, Barriere de Chartres, 1784-1791, Paris

- Ledoux's Barriere de Chartres, again, is very similar to Bramante's Tempietto. These buildings were tax gates, many have now been demolished. 

Ledoux, Cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton, 1784 

Ledoux, Interior of Cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton, 1784

- These drawings are of an enlightenment building, based on a perfectly geometric shape - sphere. It is representative of the universe. Although these drawings were produced for Sir Isaac Newton, the structure was never built due to the ridiculous scale. It was a very visionary utopian project. 

John Soane, Dulwich Picture Gallery, 1811-17, Dulwich, London

- Soane's Dulwich Picture Gallery is a very austere building with no windows, partly a mausoleum.

John Soane's House, Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1790s-1820s

- John Soane bought three houses and made a big statement with a facade on the middle house. Although this facade doesn't use any of the Classical orders, there is a suggestion of them. It could be suggested that there is an element of a triumphal arch within the facade.

John Soane, Bank of England, 1788-1833

- John Soane's Bank of England clearly incorporates the triumphal arch design. It also has a very shallow dome which is characteristic of Soane's designs. It has a rather Grecian feel about it. Soane was of the belief that the art of Greece was purer than that of Rome. There is a Romantic atmosphere about it.

Antonio Canova, Self-Portrait, 1790, Uffizi, Florence

- Antonio Canova came to provenance in native Venice. He was interested and inspired by archaeology. This is a atmospheric, romanic self-portrait.

Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, Voltaire, 1776, Louvre, Paris

Houdon, Seated Voltaire, 1781

- Jean-Baptiste Pigalle and Houdon's sculptures of the Enlightenment philosopher, Voltaire have a kind of realism about them that is, in a way, quite uncompromising. Houdon's is presented in a dignified way, wearing Classical drapes.

- There is something of the movement of the Baroque and also the realism of them. They are not far from the Roman sculptural portrait busts, these artists do not fear the truth, as they both depict the ageing of Voltaire.

Canova, Cupid and Psyche, 1786-93, Louvre, Paris

- Canova famously sculpted very smooth surfaces, with an emphasis on the linear.

- Neo-Classicism is one of the reasons people thought Greek and Roman statues as being super smooth, pure and unpaired, but of course that wasn't the case.

Girodet, The Sleep of Endymion, 1793, Louvre, Paris

- This painting by Girodet is in a similar style to Canova's Cupid and Psyche. However they do present an alternative to the ideals of the masculine body, these are soft and effeminate, unlike the over muscular bodies that are observed in other Neo-Classical paintings.

Canova, Tomb of Pope Clement xiii, 1792, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican

- In this tomb, Canova brings together separate parts, which is not as engaging as sculptural groups that are carved from one block of marble.

Flaxman, The Fury of Athamas, 1790-4, Ickworth

- This sculptural group by Flaxman is more frieze-like than compositional, it lacks a strong sense of three dimensionality.

Canova, Hercules and Lichas, 1815

- Similarly, Canova's Hercules and Lichas is quite frontal. However it does show Canova's virtuoso in sculpture. Overblown muscularity.

Canova, Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, 1802-06, Apsley House

- Canova's Napoleon was never publicly exhibited as it would have been ridiculed as it had no resemblance to Napoleon.

Canova, George Washington, 1821, (Replica)

- Canova depicted George Washington wearing ancient Roman armour.