An Age of Reason, An Age of Passion

An Age of Reason, An Age of Passion

The period following the Renaissance focused the human attention toward the beauty of nature. It was man’s turn to be part of the nature and not the other way around. The term picturesque—or “compared to a picture” as Michael Woods defines it — defines new characteristics of the art from this period.

This period, “An Age of Reason, An Age of Passion,” had a dual nature—rational, responsive to reason, but also anti-rational, responsive to emotion.

“Making one’s way through the intellectual history of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, one must be aware of the shifting meaning of such words as rationalism, naturalism, classicism, romanticism. Like dancers in a reel, they combine and recombine, changing meaning as they change partners” (Stewart et. al, 156).

The Age of Reason—also called the Enlightenment—represents, indeed, an amazing period for new discoveries. Isaac Newton, Ren6 Descartes, John Locke, Francis Bacon are only a few of the important names of the period. One of the most important creations of the eighteenth century was

Denis Diderot’s “Enciclop6die” in 35 volumes, which covered the entire knowledge as known at the time.

In France, after Louis XIV’s death, the extreme austerity at Versailles ended, and a new taste for naturalism emerged “as if released from the constraints of absolutism in form” (Stewart et. al, 156). We are witnessing the birth of the Rococo style. The name Rococo is probably a combination of the words barocco, rocaille, and coquille, referring to the rocks and shells motifs—frequently used in the art of the period.

The Rococo style is characterized by a more relaxed style, where the straits lines and right-angles— characteristics for Lois ...

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...onor6 Daumier’s dealt with the contemporary political scene.

Subjective objectivity, and the perception of phenomenal reality—expressed so as to externalize the private emotion of the artist—would characterize the following period, the Romantic Realism. Poets like Wordsworth, and painters like John Constable (1776-1837) are representative names for this period.

Revivalist Architecture was characterized by one’s desire to project an image pertaining to a certain period (Classical, Middle Ages, and so on).

What a great experience it was to have the opportunity to study the “Age of Reason and Passion”! With its main styles—Rococo, Neo-Classical, Romanticism, Romantic Realism, and Revivalist Architecture—we witnessed the birth of the modern world.

Works Cited

Stewart, Andrew, et al. Art of the Western World: Study Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1989