Paris Romantique 1815 - 1848 (Paris in the Romantic Era)

Petit Palais May 22 - September 15, 2019

"If by romanticism one means the free manifestation of my personal impulses, distancing myself from the rules set in schools, and my distaste for the recipes of the academy, I must confess that not only am I a romantic, I was from the age of 15."
Eugene Delacroix

Romanticism was an artistic movement at its peak in Europe from 1800 to 1850.  In France, it was a  reaction against the formality and strict rules of neo-classicism (a style inspired by the classical art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.) Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as by glorification of nature. It had a significant effect on politics, with romantic thinkers influencing liberalism, radicalism, conservatism and nationalism

This really large-scale exhibition at the Petit Palais presents an expansive view of the French capital during the Romantic years from the fall of Napoleon in 1815 to the revolution of 1848. Over 600 works – paintings, sculptures, costumes, objets d’art, furniture – immerse the visitor in the arts, culture and politics of the time.

The Petit Palais, an art museum, is across the street from the Grand Palais, an exhibition hall. Both buildings border the Champs-Elysées.

A vertical sign advertising the exhibition. In the background are 2 columns on the Pont Alexandre III, a very ornate bridge spanning the Seine River.

Entry portal to the Petit Palais 

Becky on the steps of the Petit Palais

Exhibition sign

La Barrière de Clichy (The Defense of Clichy) by Horace Vernet, 1820

The Battle of Paris was fought on March 30–31, 1814.  The Allied armies of Russia, Austria and Prussia captured Paris. After a day of fighting in the suburbs of Paris, the French surrendered on March 31, ending the war and forcing Emperor Napoleon to abdicate and go into exile. 

FYI: Napoleon wanted to dominate Europe. The opposition feared that he would succeed and eventually crush the hold of monarchies in European government. The Napoleonic Wars ensued. Guess what? We helped him out. In 1803, Napoleon was already planning an invasion of Britain, a campaign he intended to fund with the 68 million francs the United States had just paid France for the Louisiana Purchase (!!!)

Detail of La Barrière de Clichy

Marie-Amélie, Reine des Français, by Antonin Moine, 1833

She was the wife of King Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who ascended the throne of France following the July revolution of 1830 that overthrew King Charles X.
(BTW, there is more artwork later associated with these kings)

Louis Philippe Marie Ferdinand Gaston d’Orléans Comte d’Eu by François-Xavier Winterhalter, 1847. His paternal grandparents were Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, king of the French, and Marie-Amélie of the Two Sicilies.

Jeanne d’Arc pleurant a la vue d’un Anglais blessé (Joan of Arc crying at the sight of a wounded Englishman)  by Marie d’Orléans, 1831

Elegant gentlemen Evariste Boulay-Paty & Charles Letellier, alias Maximilen Raoul, by Jean-Francois Boisselat, 1834. Boulay-Paty was a French poet of the romantic era with his friend Charles Letellier.

Jeune Fille au Portrait (Portrait of a Young Woman)  by Edouard Dubufe, 1830 

Ornate pendulum clock, 1827

Liquor cabinet, 1820-1830

Gown, 1824

Redingote 1820

A redingote was a fitted outer garment, such as a double-breasted coat with wide flat cuffs and collar, worn by men in the 18th century.

Becky & hats

Robert in front of a courtyard mural

Roland Furieux by Jehan Duseigneur, a French romantic sculptor, 1831

 Roland Furieux is often regarded as the first romantic sculpture. Roland, driven mad by unrequited love, tore off his clothes. His friends restrained him to keep him from doing harm to himself and others.

FYI: "Orlando Furioso" (The Frenzy of Orlando)  was an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto. The story takes place during the war between Charlemagne's Christian paladins and the Saracen army that invaded Europe. The poem is about war and love and the romantic ideal of chivalry.

Le Christ au Jardin des Oliviers by Eugène Delacroix, 1826 

Jesus, praying in the Garden of Olives, begged God to release him from the terrible future that awaited him. Strengthened by prayer, he accepted his fate and faced the soldiers who came to arrest him.

Detail, Christ in the Garden of Olives 

L’archidruidesse Villéda Contemplant la demeure d’Eudore (Celtic Priestess Villéda contemplating the residence of Eudore) by Hippolyte Maindron, 1839. 

The marble statue of Velléda is in the Luxembourg Garden. Inspiration for the sculpture came from a story about a priestess, Villéda, who was imprisoned and fell in love with her jailer, Eudore.  He freed her, but she returned to the jail and awaited him under a tree. (BTW, he rejected her.)

Portrait d’Isaure Chassériau by Eugène Amaury-Duval, 1824 

She was the niece of the artist.

La Tragédie by Henri Lemaire, 1833 

Haut-relief (high relief shows greater carved depth than bas, or low relief) for the tomb of  Mlle. Duchesnois in Père-Lachaise Cemetery. She was an actress who performed at the Comédie Française in Paris.

Tuerie (Slaughter), a fragment from a large bas-relief by Auguste Préault, 1834. 

It is said to be an extreme example of the Romantic fascination with suffering (BTW, there was no large bas-relief for this to be a fragment of) 

Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London by Edouard Cibot, 1835. 

Unable to bear Henry VIII an heir to the throne and accused of adultery (probably a trumped-up charge Henry used to get rid of her), Anne Boleyn was beheaded by a French swordsman within the confines of the Tower of London.

Réveil du Juste, Réveil du Méchant (Awakening of the Righteous, Awakening of the Wicked) by Emil Signol, 1835. 

The painting was inspired by a biblical quote from the Book of Job. Signol lived during the Romantic Era, but espoused neoclassicism and scorned romanticism. 

Le Silence (The Silence of Death), a medallion on the tomb of Jacob Robles in Père-Lachaise Cemetery by Auguste Préault, 1842

Sara La Baigneuse (Sara the Bather) by Alexandre-Marie Colin, 1838

The painting depicts the subject of a poem by Victor Hugo, titled "Sara La Baigneuse"
Hector Berlioz also composed a choral work inspired by the poem in 1834.Sara is pictured swinging on a hammock above the basin of a fountain.

Souvenir du Voyage de Paris a Cadiz fait, en 1846 par Alexandre Dumas et ses Amis by Eugène Girault, 1855

La Génie de la Liberté (The Spirit of Freedom) by Agustin Dumont, 1833

The plaster cast is a reproduction of the statue on top of La Colonne de Juillet, a monumental column in the middle of the Place de la Bastille, commemorating the Revolution of 1830.

L’Arc de Triomphe - Le Depart des voluntaires de 1792/La Marseillaise (Departure of the volunteers) 

An haut-relief by Francois Rude, 1833-1836, it is on the façade of the north pillar of the Arc de Triomphe. It became famous as a celebration of the French revolutionary spirit. 

Une voiture de Masques (Carnival Scene, Place de la Concorde) by Eugene Lami, 1834. 

An illustration from a book of short stories by Edmond and Jules Goncourt, who wrote and published novels in the mid 1800s.

Vase de la Renaissance by Claude-Aimé Chenavard, 1830

Scene from Henri III and His Court by Achille Devéria, vers 1829 

The King’s Gallant and his Court by Alexandre Dumas was the author’s first hit play, a 

five-act historical drama in prose.

Combat devant l’Hotel de Ville  le vingt-huit juillet 1830 (Battle outside the Hotel de Ville) 

 by Victor Schnetz, 1833. 

FYI: The “July Revolution,” lasted July 27, 28 and 29, 1830. It led to the overthrow of Charles X, who had issued restrictive ordinances to the Charter of 1814, the French constitution which preserved the liberties won by the French Revolution. His cousin, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans, became king, but because he didn’t accept the symbolic role of a monarch and reigned during a period of escalating political and social activism, he was overthrown in 1848 and fled to England.