ClassicismThe terms classic or classical came into use in the seventeenth century to describe the arts and culture of the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome. The following of the principles of these ancient civilisations in art, architecture and literature is referred to as classicism.
Classicism is generally associated with harmony and restraint, and obedience to recognized standards of form and craftsmanship.
From the Renaissance on, classicism dominated Western art, with classical mythology – consisting of the various myths and legends of the ancient Greek and Roman gods and heroes – becoming a major source of subject matter for history painting.
Classicism both as an art style and as the first theory of art was defined by the ancient Greeks, emulated by the Romans, and then continued to appear in various forms across the centuries. Historically, the periods most associated with Classicism are the fifth and fourth centuries BC in Greece with writers such as Aristotle and Sophocles; the first century BC and first century AD in Rome with writers such as Cicero and Vergil; in late seventeenth-century French drama; and in the eighteenth century, especially in France, during a period called the Enlightenment, with such writers as Voltaire and Condorcet. In its varying formulations Classicism affirms the superiority of balance and rationality over impulse and emotion. It aspires to formal precision, affirms order, and eschews ambiguity, flights of imagination, or lack of resolution. Classicism asserts the importance of wholeness and unity; the work of art coheres without extraneous elements or open-ended conclusions.
Both ancient Greek and ancient Roman writers stressed restraint and restricted scope, reason reflected in theme and structure, and a unity of purpose and design. In his Poetics, for example, Aristotle stressed the unities of time, place, and action. Perhaps basing his theory of drama on Sophocles's plays, Aristotle asserted that the action of a place must occur within 24 hours, with all the events taking place in one location, and each event causing the next event. Following these restrictions would produce a pleasingly cohesive drama. In all, the ancients believed that art was a vehicle for communicating the reason and intelligence that permeate the world and human affairs when people act rationally and according to moral precept.
Classicism
Art movement, architectural style around XVII-XIX centuries
Villa Capra "La Rotonda" is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio. The correct name is Villa Almerico-Capra. It is also known as La Rotonda, Villa Rotunda, Villa La Rotonda, and Villa Almerico. The name "Capra" derives from the Capra brothers, who completed the building after it was ceded to them in 1591. Like other works by Palladio in Vicenza and the surrounding area, the building is conserved as part of the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".
The choice of the location is fundamental: just about a quarter of a mile from the city walls, the hill in which la rotonda stands on was guaranteed to offer the clean air all members of the Veneto nobility desired at the time.
The square plan of the villa was rotated 45 degrees, its four corners facing the four cardinal points to mitigate sun exposure and winds.
The humanistic recovery of antiquity is one of the pillars of the villa:
the idea of a circular building with a dome comes from the Pantheon of Rome, the pronaos supporting the pillars are inspired by ancient temples, while the concept of a suburban Villa that also serves as an agricultural business re elaborate Pliny the Younger’s scripts. Because, contrary to what it seems, the Rotonda was also the base of agricultural business: the owner, Paolo Almerico, who thanks to the altitude had complete visual control of his land. However, unlike other Veneto villas, the rustic annexes were far from the main building.
The villa appeared isolated without any walls or hedges to protect it, which is what makes the Rotonda so unique. The Villa is an icon of perfection and harmony because of the visual relationship Palladio was able to create between the villa and the landscape.
Walhalla memorial
The Walhalla is considered the most important of all works commissioned by King Ludwig l of Bavaria (1825-48). Architect Leo von Klenze constructed the Walhalla between October 18th 1830 – when the foundation stone was laid – and October 18th 1842 (official opening ceremony) Proximity to the former Free Imperial City of Regensburg with its magnificent gothic cathedral is deliberate.
The Walhalla is located in a dominant position high above the Danube in the vicinity of Regensburg. This Neoclassical building in the form of a temple surrounded by a portico with columns represents one of the most important German national monuments of the 19th century., which was created by order of the Bavarian king Ludwig I (reigned 1825-1848). After 1807, in the wake of what was seen as a humiliating defeat by the Napoleonic armies, Prince Ludwig decided that when he became king he would build a place of remembrance for German-speaking men and women of outstanding merit as an inspiration and reference point for the nation. Under the influence of the historian Johannes von Müller, who also made the initial selection of the personalities to be honoured, the German pantheon was called Walhalla after the warrior’s paradise of Germanic mythology, Valhalla.
The Walhalla was built by Ludwig’s I favourite architect, Leo von Klenze (1784-1864), one of the most important Neoclassical architects of the 19th century. The foundation stone was laid in 1830 and the building was ceremoniously opened twelve years later, on 18 October 1842. Klenze’s design was primarily inspired by the famous Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens dating from 5 BC. The combination of colonnaded temple and massive substructure and the free design of the interior however prevents the architecture from being a mere copy of the ancient building. The temple building, which is clad inside and out with precious marble, rises above the massive tiered substructure. This was originally intended to house the ‘Hall of Expectation’ containing the busts of people to be honoured in the future.
Along the walls of the interior are the busts and memorial plaques of the ‘Walhalla comrades’ chosen by Ludwig I and his advisors, a selection of rulers, generals, scientists and artists considered exemplary in the 19th century. The frieze of figures by Martin von Wagner above them depicts an ideal history of the Germanic people from the first migrants to Christianization in the early Middle Ages.
Since 1962 new busts have been added to the original 96 at intervals of five to seven years. The selection is made by the Bavarian Council of Ministers, advised by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Since 2016 the Walhalla has been administered by the Bavarian Palace Administration.
