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Neoclassicism

Europe turns back to Greece and Rome: clear line, calm figures and civic virtue.

109 works · hang 1206 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. AN OLD WOMAN SPINNING
    An Old Woman SpinningClaude-Louis Desrais, 1810–30Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David, 1787
    The Death of SocratesJacques-Louis David, 1787Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Waterfall at Terni, by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, 1826
    Waterfall at TerniJean Baptiste Camille Corot, 1826Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. Germain-Augustin and Rose de Saint-Aubin, Drawn by Their Uncle, by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, 1766
    Germain-Augustin and Rose de Saint-Aubin, Drawn by Their UncleGabriel de Saint-Aubin, 1766Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Portrait of Don Juan Antonio Cuervo, by Francisco Goya, 1819
    Portrait of Don Juan Antonio CuervoFrancisco Goya, 1819Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. This image is a pencil sketch on paper with a monochrome palette of graphite gray. The viewer sees various scenes without a defined horizon line. The upper section shows figures in period clothing, possibly mid-19th century women's fashion. The middle area has abstract architectural forms. In the lower right corner, a sailing ship or boat is sketched with more detail than the rest. The drawing style consists of quick, expressive strokes. The image conveys multiple narrative or compositional ideas on a single sheet.
    Seaside StudiesEugène Isabey, 1830sCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Shown from the waist up in front of a black background, a young woman with pale white skin and curly brown hair looks directly out at us over her shoulder with her body angled to our left in this vertical portrait. She has dark brown eyes, a straight nose, smooth skin, and her pink lips are closed. Curls fall across her forehead but the rest of her hair is pulled up under a white lace scarf, called a mantilla. The mantilla is tucked under the wide orange and black shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She clasps her hands at her waist, and her hands and forearms are covered with long white gloves that disappear under the shawl.
    Señora Sabasa GarciaFrancisco Goya, c. 1806/1811Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second room, south wall

  1. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) and Marie Anne Lavoisier (Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze, 1758–1836), by Jacques-Louis David, 1788
    Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) and Marie Anne Lavoisier (Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze, 1758–1836)Jacques-Louis David, 1788Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The image shows three figures. Two of them are embracing in the foreground, kneeling on the ground and facing each other in a kiss. The person on the left has curly hair and appears to be wearing a coat-like garment, while the person on the right has long hair tied back and is dressed in a long robe. The third figure emerges from the bushes in the background, with shoulder-length hair, wearing a dress with a sash and a light shawl or scarf over their head. The setting includes tall trees, shrubs, and a structure with columns and arches on the right side, suggesting a garden or courtyard. Rolling hills and cloudy skies are in the distant background.
    The Fortunate RescueDaniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, 1791Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    ShipwreckAfter Eugène Isabey, 19th centuryCourtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, north wall

  1. The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, by Jacques-Louis David, 1787
    The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his SonsJacques-Louis David, 1787Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. This is a drawing of a group of mythological figures in a ceremonial scene. The composition features multiple figures in various poses, centered around a symbolic gathering. The drawing is detailed, providing a classical representation of human forms, draped fabrics, and an animal. A plateau with trees is subtly depicted in the background. The figures display expressions ranging from serene to contemplative.
    The Nursing of JupiterThéodore ChassériauCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Portrait of Constance PipeletJean Baptiste François Désoria, 1797Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Third room, north wall

  1. CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME IN PARIS
    Cathedral of Notre Dame in ParisCharles Nicolas Ransonnette, 1825–1840Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. A young woman draws on an oval surface with white chalk while three winged, baby-like putti gather nearby, all on a bank of pale pink clouds in this horizontal painting. The woman and putti have pale, rosy skin, flushed cheeks, and hazel-brown eyes. To our left, the woman reclines with her upper body propped up on her far elbow, which rests on a steel-blue cushion as her legs stretch out to our right. Her light brown hair is braided and wrapped across the top of her head. She wears a loose, seafoam-green robe over a billowing ivory-white garment that has slipped off the shoulder closer to us. A round paint palette with brushes sticking out of its thumb hole and a roll of blue and white paper sit in the lower left corner, behind the woman. The woman and the objects are on a red cloth. In front of the woman is a rounded surface, perhaps a canvas, on which she draws. She holds up a gold-colored stylus with her right hand, closer to us, with a pointed piece of white chalk in one end and black chalk in the other. The canvas is taller than her head, so the child-like putto she draws on it is life-sized. The three nude putti on the far side of the canvas have copper or golden-blond, curly hair, flushed, rounded cheeks, short wings in white or peacock blue, pudgy torsos, and dimpled limbs. One putto, presumably the one the woman draws, sits back on the bank of clouds with a carnation-pink sash across his chest. He pulls his chin back and looks at her from under his eyebrows. He holds a gold-colored torch with a pink flame in one hand, and the other hand rests near a cylindrical quiver of arrows. Another putto peeks around the side of the canvas, and the third stands and props the canvas up. That third putto holds up a wreath of laurel leaves up over the canvas, above the woman’s drawing hand. The bank of clouds is parchment-brown with muted pink and blue highlights against a vivid blue sky. The artist signed and dated the lower right, “F Boucher – 1765.”
    Allegory of PaintingFrançois Boucher, 1765Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. The Artist in His Room at the Villa Medici, Rome, by Léon Cogniet, 1817
    The Artist in His Room at the Villa Medici, RomeLéon Cogniet, 1817Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art