Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences: «Heroic» and «Tragic» in the Painting of Neoclassicism of the 18th Century (on the example of the analysis of the works of J.-L. David)

Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences / «Heroic» and «Tragic» in the Painting of Neoclassicism of the 18th Century (on the example of the analysis of the works of J.-L. David)

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Issue: Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences. 2022 15 (6)
Authors: Sertakova, Ekaterina A.; Kolesnik, Maria A.; Leshchinskaya, Natalia M.
Contact information: Sertakova, Ekaterina A.: Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation; ,; Kolesnik, Mariya A.: Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation; ; Leshchinskaya, Natalya M.: Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation
Keywords: heroic; tragic; hero; European art; Modern History; neoclassicism; revolutionary classicism; painting by J.-L. David; reason; duty; service
Abstract: The article is devoted to the examination of the manifestation of the «heroic» and «tragic» in the works of the founder of the style of «revolutionary classicism», the French painter Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825). This author made a significant contribution to the formation of the «neoclassicism» style in the 18th century, the visual image of the hero of his time, as well as the general perception of the hero in general in the era of local and global transformations. In his works, David demonstrated that the quality of the heroic and the tragic can be manifested not only in the ideal antique model – the hero-demigod and in the image of the holy martyr and righteous man, given by the Christian culture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The hero of the New Age is a person distant from God. Independently making a difficult choice – a choice between personal and social, feelings and duty. He is a man of the cult of Reason, a cult that, despite a short period of its official existence, has not disappeared from the life of society, retaining the «appeal to reason» as an important element of the culture of change. In order to fully reveal the features of visualization of the «heroic» and «tragic» in neoclassicism painting of the 18th century, an analysis of research works on the chosen topic is carried out, the creative biography of the artist Jacques-Louis David as one of the key representatives of the style is considered, and a philosophical and art history analysis of one of the most important works of his «revolutionary classicism» – «Lictors bring the bodies of his sons to Brutus», 1789
Pages: 867–878
DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-0893
Paper at repository of SibFU: https://elib.sfu-kras.ru/handle/2311/145403

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