Romantic Era
Romanticism was a creative and academic movement in the history of ideas, which started in the late 18th century in Western Europe. It emphasizes strong emotions, which would now include fear, awe, and horror as aesthetic experiences the individual imagination as a dangerous authority. This allowed freedom within or even from traditional notions of forms in art. This also includes the overturning of previous social conventions, especially the position of the aristocracy. Romanticism has strong elements of historical and natural certainty of its ideas, which emphasizes the significance of “nature” in art and language. It is also well-known for its increase in achievements of what it perceived as heroic individuals and artists. Romanticism followed the Enlightenment period and was inspired by the rebellion against aristocratic social and political norms from the previous period. It was also seen as the fulfillment of the promise of that age. You cannot identify Romanticism by a single style, technique, or attitude, but it can be identified by its highly imaginative and subjective approach, emotional intensity, and by a dream like or visionary quality (Romanticism, 2007)
Title: Duel with Cudgels
Date: 1820-1823
Medium: Oil on plaster
The Artist Francisco Jose de Goya de Lucientes (Spanish painter) was born in Fuendetodos to Joseph Goya and Gracia Lucientes. His family moved in 1749 to a new family home in Saragossa and upon finishing school at Escuelas Pias; he entered the studio of Jose Lujan where he learned to paint. After a supposed affair, Goya moved from Saragossa to Madrid.
Goya lived a very fantasy filled life that is hard to verify. He studied with Mengs who was a popular royal artist but ended up leaving his tutoring after clashing with his style. In 1774, he studied with Francisco Bayer where he learned how to paint in a more charming manner. He also married his teacher’s sister Josefa, whom he called Pepa. Goya and Pepa had one...