The Humanistic Tradition, Book 5 Romanticism, Realism, and the Nineteenth-Century World

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68 CHAPTER 29 The Romantic Style in Art and Music

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of pictorial balance, clarity, and restraint gave way to dynamic

composition, bold color, and vigorous brushwork.

Trends in Mid Nineteenth-Century Architecture

• The search for national identity is also evident in the Gothic
  revival in Western architecture. Neomedievalism challenged
  Neoclassicism in paying homage to Europe’s historic past.


• Increasing familiarity with the cultures of Asia and Islam
  inspired exotic architecture, such as the Royal Pavilion of
  Brighton.

The Romantic Style in Music

• Romantic music found inspiration in heroic and nationalistic
  themes, as well as in nature’s moods and the vagaries of human
  love. In their desire to express strong personal emotions,

Heroic Themes in Art

• Romantic artists generally elevated the heart over the mind and
  the emotions over the intellect. They favored subjects that gave
  free rein to the imagination, the mysteries of the spirit, and the
  cult of the ego.


• Increasingly independent of the official sources of patronage,
  Romantic artists saw themselves as the heroes of their age.
  They favored heroic themes and personalities, especially those
  illustrating the struggle for political independence.


• Gros, Géricault, Goya, and Delacroix stretched the bounds of
  traditional subject matter to include controversial contemporary
  events, exotic subjects, and medieval legends. Their paintings
  gave substance to the spirit of nationalism that swept through
  nineteenth-century Europe.


• The Romantic turn to heroic themes was matched by new
  freedoms in composition and technique. Neoclassical principles

Figure 29.22Metropolitan Opera production of Wagner’s The Rhinegoldfrom The Ring of the Nibelung. In scene four of Das Rheingold

(The Gold of the Rhine), the giants Fasolt and Fafner refuse to relinquish their hostage Freia unless they are given enough gold to hide

her body from view. Wotan (on the right) negotiates with them. Critics compare Wagner’s story to J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy trilogy,

The Lord of the Rings (1937–1949), which shares the mythical themes of loss and recovery and the epic quest for magical power.