AH 313 - French Classicism: Art and Architecture

While in 1600 Rome became the undisputed capital of the arts, the 17th century saw French art gradually assert itself on the international scene, alongside Italian and Flemish models. Reinterpreting the spiritual and humanist visions of CARAVAGE, CARRACHE and then RUBENS, French artists, between Classicism and Baroque, progressively asserted themselves by the sobriety and elegance of their style, responding by the themes approached to the demands of their patrons (State, Church, Nobility).

However, from the beginning of the 18th century, with the complicity of a bourgeois public, bearer of new values, such as pleasure and intimacy, French artists will largely contribute to the development of the Rococo style and initiate pictorial revolutions announcing the 19th century.

In order to better study these artistic movements - from the beginning of the 17th century to the French Revolution (1789) - it is necessary to look at the three fields of influence on the artist and his work, namely:
- The international and national artistic context and in particular the exchanges between Paris and Rome;
- The historical, religious and political context of the time;
- Finally, the major emotional events in the life of an artist;

The study of these three sources acting on the imagination of the painter and his expertise allows us to better understand how each artist is at the same time heir to the artistic past, creator of the present, and initiator of the future. This course, mainly focused on pictorial creation, will also allow us to understand the great architectural creations of the time (from St. Peter's to Versailles) and to approach sculpture.