Chapter 19: The Eighteenth Century Flashcards
Enlightenment
A philosophical movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries that challenged tradition, stressed reason over blind faith or obedience, and encouraged scientific thought.
enlightened despots
In reflecting their greater concern for the welfare of their people, these new, more liberal monarchs, often known as “enlightened despots,” undoubtedly braked the growing demands for change—for a while. Inevitably, however, by drawing attention to the injustices of the past, they stimulated an appetite for reform that they were in no position to satisfy. Furthermore, for all their claims—Frederick the Great, for example, described himself as “first servant of the state”—their regimes remained essentially autocratic. These enlightened despots, however, brought Enlightenment philosophers, scientists, writers, artists, and intellectuals into their royal circle and supported their endeavors.
Jacobin
a member of a fairly exclusive political club of mostly well-off men who supported individual and collective rights for the citizens of France
Louis XIV death marked the beginning of the end of what
absolute monarchy
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro and William Hogarth’s series of paintings Marriage à la Mode
satirical art pieces on the aristocracy and the marital ethics of the British upper class respectively
Poussinistes
created surfaces with a smooth, mirrorlike finish
Rubenistes (colorists)
characterized by vigorous, textural brushstrokes
more popular and there style is called ROCOCO
leading architect of the day
Balthasar Neumann
Among the many palaces and churches he designed, none is more spectacular than the Vierzehnheiligen (“fourteen saints”) near Bamberg, Germany. The relative simplicity of the exterior deliberately leaves the visitor unprepared for the spaciousness and elaborate decoration of the interior with its rows of windows and irregularly placed columns
Cesare Beccaria
On Crimes and Punishments (1764), the first application of rationalist principles to the study of criminal punishment; it led to reforms in the criminal-justice systems of many European countries. Beccaria argued that prison sentences should fit the crimes and should be used to deter crime and rehabilitate criminals rather than solely to exact retribution. He also spoke vehemently against the death penalty for reasons that echo in opponents’ voices even today: no one (and no state) has the right to take the life of another, and the death penalty does not deter crime any more than other forms of punishment.
Adam Smith
individual liberty—for his new economic theory in The Wealth of Nations; it was published in 1776, the year that the American colonies declared independence from Britain. Smith promoted an economic approach called laissez-faire—“let it be.” He believed that if market forces were allowed to operate without state intervention, an “invisible hand” would guide self-interest for the benefit of all.
Neo-Classicism
An 18th-century revival of Classical Greek and Roman art and architectural styles, generally characterized by simplicity and straight lines.
historical reasons for the rise of Neo-Classicism
The excavation of the buried cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, beginning in 1711 and 1748, respectively, evoked immense interest in the art of Classical antiquity in general and of Rome in particular. The wall paintings from Pompeian villas of the first century ce were copied by countless visitors to the excavations, and reports of the finds were published throughout Europe. The German scholar Johannes Winckelmann (1717–1768), who is sometimes called the Father of Archaeology, played a major part in creating a new awareness of the importance of Classical art; in many of his writings, he encouraged his contemporaries not only to admire ancient masterpieces but also to imitate them.
The aims and ideals of the Roman Republic
freedom, opposition to tyranny, valor
The painter who best represents the official revolutionary style
Jacques-Louis David
style galant
A style of elegant, lighthearted music that was popular in France during the early part of the 18th century.
