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Neoclassicism

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

109 works · hang 3524 ·

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

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. 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
  2. In a room filled with easels, white plaster heads and statuettes, a box of paints, books, and papers, a young woman stands looking at a sketch and a young girl looks on, seated in an armchair, in this vertical painting. The scene is lit from the upper left, presumably from a window out of our view. Both women have smooth, pale skin, and their hair is swept up with curls framing their faces. They face our right in profile so their faces are in gentle shadow. They have straight noses, and their rose-pink lips are closed. They wear gowns with short sleeves, low, scooped necks, and floor-length skirts cinched under the bust. In the center of the painting, the young woman has chestnut-brown hair and wears a white gown tied with a sky-blue ribbon. She stands in front of a portfolio propped up against a tall easel. The portfolio is made of two stiff boards that tie together with pale blue ribbon to secure large sheets of paper. She rests her right hand, closer to us, on the front board of the portfolio and looks down at the sketch on a gray piece of paper she holds with her other hand. Next to her and closer to us, the younger girl sits in a gold chair upholstered with olive-green velvet. She faces our right almost in profile, and she looks up toward the drawing the other woman holds. The girl in the chair has blond hair and a gold-colored dress. Her feet are propped on a gold footstool, and she holds another portfolio on her lap. She supports the portfolio and holds a piece of paper with one hand, and a stylus or brush in the other hand, up by her chin. To the right of the easel, a wooden table holds a collection of plaster casts of faces, a hand, and small-scale bodies along with a glass vessel and a few other tools. Two translucent green bottles, boxes, a book, and a terracotta vase are collected on the footstool and the floor around the base of the easel. Garnet-red cloths are draped down the front of the table to our right and behind the girl on the chair. Next to her chair, in the lower left corner of the composition, is a wooden box with a paint palette and a handful of thin paintbrushes. A scroll of paper lies next to the box. A shelf at the standing girl’s shoulder height and behind the pair, to our left, is piled with white busts of a man, child, and woman, more figurines, and a brush in a small cup, all arranged across a moss-green cloth. The space with the girls and artist’s tools is enclosed by a large, dark brown form, presumably a canvas in shadow, that leans against the tall easels and mostly cuts off a view into the rest of the room. A glimpse of shadowy capitals is seen over the board, across the top of the painting, to suggest that a row of columns recedes into the space beyond. The artist signed the work as if he had painted his name on the floor next to the scroll, “L. Boilly.”
    A Painter's StudioLouis-Léopold Boilly, c. 1800Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    ShipwreckAfter Eugène Isabey, 19th centuryCourtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl, by Louis Jean Desprez, c. 1779–84
    Tomb with Sphinxes and an OwlLouis Jean Desprez, c. 1779–84Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. A work made of etching, aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper.
    Pedro Romero killing the halted bull, plate 30 from The Art of BullfightingFrancisco Goya, 1814/16, published 1816Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. 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
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus the GreatPierre Henri de Valenciennes, 1796Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. A work made of graphite and pen and black ink, with touches of opaque, white watercolor on cream laid paper.
    Farmer Requesting Permission to Marry a Nobleman's DaughterGabriel de Saint-Aubin, 1761Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Birth of BacchusKároly Markó, Sr., 1826 (?)Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  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 Forest with Apollo and Daphne, by Jean-Victor Bertin, 1810
    A Forest with Apollo and DaphneJean-Victor Bertin, 1810Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. God save us from such a bitter fate; a bandit threatening a woman and a child with a knife, page 41 from the "Black Border Album" (E), by Francisco Goya, ca. 1816–20
    God save us from such a bitter fate; a bandit threatening a woman and a child with a knife, page 41 from the "Black Border Album" (E)Francisco Goya, ca. 1816–20Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. Seated Giant, by Francisco Goya, by 1818 (possibly 1814–18)
    Seated GiantFrancisco Goya, by 1818 (possibly 1814–18)Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The image shows an etching of a forest scene with towering trees dominating the upper half. The horizon is not clearly visible due to dense foliage, but a line of trees and rocky outcrops in the distance provide a boundary. The fine lines and cross-hatching technique create detailed textures in the tree bark and foliage. The color palette is monochromatic, in shades of black and white emphasizing light and shadow. A large tree with a partially hollow trunk and figures scattered throughout the scene give a sense of scale and activity within the forest setting.
    Wooded Landscape with a Nymph and a SatyrSalomon Gessner, 1764Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. This oval painting shows a cherubic child floating mid-air with one leg bent and their arms outstretched. The cherub has curly hair, a round face, and pale skin dusted with rosy pink and light teal shadows. They are smiling gently. The cherub is nude with a draped cloth over one shoulder, and in one hand they hold a flaming torch. Surrounding the cherub are white birds in flight. The background consists of pale blue and soft white clouds, with blooming pink flowers and foliage on the pale green ground.
    Love as FollyJean Honoré Fragonard, c. 1773/1776Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Joseph-Antoine Moltedo (born 1775), by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, ca. 1810
    Joseph-Antoine Moltedo (born 1775)Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, ca. 1810Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art