What every cultured person needs to know about 5 iconic paintings of the 19th century romantic era

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Few periods in European history have brought about such significant social and cultural changes as the one and only year 1848 (later called the Spring of Nations), which ushered in nationalist revolutions across the continent. It was the peak of romanticism that defined 19th century European art and politics.

By addressing an imaginary past, Romanticism has highlighted a previously ignored legacy. If classicism sought to recreate and imitate the harsh beauty of the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece, then romanticism drew inspiration from forgotten European legends and folk traditions. It was through romantic paintings that people discovered their glorious past and saw glimpses of a brighter future.

The idea of "nation" is relatively new: it is a romantic concept coined by German philosophers in the 19th century, not a legacy of the past. While political romanticism focused on national emancipation, 19th century art reflected the same idea in music, literature, and painting. Of all the means available to artists, painting offered the best means for addressing such fluid concepts as national spirit and history. At a time when many Europeans were illiterate and barely interested in the national past, historical paintings built bridges between nationalism and indifference.

Art of the XIX century slowly and steadily followed the path of national emancipation. Small peoples, sandwiched between powerful empires, were especially susceptible to these new trends. Romantic paintings have thus replaced history with an idealized representation of political dreams. Artists depicted national ancestors in their versions of traditional costumes, emphasizing their heroism and paying little attention to authenticity. Historical paintings (often monumental in size) were versions of modern 19th century movie posters: vibrant, rich, engaging, and often similar. The next five masterpieces tell the same story of European romantic nationalism from five different peoples, whose views on history and the future did not coincide. However, their shared romantic portraits seemed to complement each other well.

1. Mihai Munkachi

When Mihai Munkachi (1844-1900) died, only his funeral brought half of Budapest to the streets. Ironically, the last Hungarian romantic painter died at the turn of the 20th century, leaving behind a series of masterpieces. Among his many works on historical subjects, one stands out as the most replicated of his romantic paintings - "The Conquest of the Motherland."

Mihai's appeal to a defining episode in the history of the Hungarian people is not accidental. What could be more dramatic and more significant for a romantic artist than the arrival of the Magyars in Central Europe at the beginning of the 10th century? Having settled in the lowlands of the Carpathian basin, the Hungarian tribes allegedly made a deal with Svatopluk I. By deceiving the Slavic ruler to give land, grass and water to their leader Arpad, the Hungarians "bought" the land from the Slavs.

In an anachronistic manner, the romantic picture of Munkacsi is filled with figures gathered at the edge of the forest, their clothes bears no resemblance to the real historical clothes worn by local Slavs or Hungarian newcomers in the 10th century. Likewise, Arpad's majestic white horse is the artistic expression of his energy, strength and importance. Historically, much smaller and stronger horse breeds prevailed in Eastern Europe at that time. Mihai's vibrant colors, as well as his attention to detail, imbue the painting with a modern spirit. Hairstyles and clothing reflect romantic Hungarian fashion, including the gorgeous mustache that all the men around Arpad sported. While creating a painting for the Hungarian Parliament building, Munkácsi finished his work in 1893, forever capturing a legend that tells more about the idea of a nation than about the past.

2. Oton Ivekovic

In their quest to portray nationally defining moments, Hungarian romantic artists did not stray far from the Slavs, whom Arpad allegedly deceived. An eerily similar plot captured another romantic mind. This time the artist was none other than the Croatian folklore lover Oton Ivekovic (1869-1939).

Trained in academic realism, he developed his skills in Vienna and Zagreb. Obsessed with the Slavic history of his homeland, Otho envisioned the arrival of the Croats as his own reflection on this topic. He ignored every one of the Croatian "migration theories", focusing on national representation.

As a result, his romantic painting revives the fading image of the Croatian medieval kingdom, capturing the legendary arrival of seven brothers and sisters to the sea. The robes of the characters, as well as the unnaturally bright scenery, are not in vain reminiscent of theatrical scenery. Otho was, after all, a costume designer whose historical paintings were often sold as postcards to the general public.

Unlike his other colleagues, Ivekovic used allegories sparingly, concentrating on gross emotions and conveying a direct message: on the jagged rocks towering over the blue ribbon of the sea, the future Croatian nation took its first steps towards statehood - a political dream embodied in the picture. Even today, the artist's historical canvases occupy a prominent place in history textbooks and popular culture.

3. Frantisek Zhenisek

In 1891, Frantisek Zhenisek (1849-1916), a Czech nationalist and romantic artist, created a significant work dedicated to semi-mythical encounters and national legends. He, like many of his fellow romantics, turned to his national history or, more precisely, to his romantic idea of the mysterious past of the Czech people.

According to an old legend, Libuše was the youngest daughter of a mythical ruler who controlled the Bohemian region. Although her father chose her as his successor, Libuše faced opposition from the men of her tribe, who demanded that she marry. Instead of choosing a noble from her tribe, she fell in love with the simple peasant Přemysl.

Possessing the unique gift of a seer, Libuche ordered the nobles to find the peasant whom she saw in her vision and bring him to the palace. Přemysl became the leader and founder of the Bohemian royal dynasty, which will rule the country for many centuries. Libuše predicted the founding of Prague, the rise of the Czech nation and the suffering it would endure in the end.

The story of the seer-queen has captivated a whole generation of young Czech nationalists. When Bedřich Smetana composed the music for the first national opera Libuše, other artists followed suit. Zhenishek, in turn, turned to this story of love, prophecy and nationalism in his romantic painting The Legacy of Libuše and Plowman Přemysl.

A Christ-like figure with outstretched arms and humble demeanor, the legendary founder of the first Czech dynasty of kings, meets Libuše at the edge of the field, who bends down to the plowman, asking for his hand. It was this defining episode in the history of the Czech nation that ultimately led to the Czech national revival.

4. Jan Matejko

In the East, in Poland, romantic nationalism took a tragic turn. While other Slavs focused on glorious events from their legends, many Polish romantic painters mourned the loss of their once mighty state.

Divided by three European powers, a united Poland became a dream expressed in many masterpieces of 19th century art. Reitan. The Decline of Poland”(The Fall of Poland) Jan Matejko (1838-1893) tells this story of a past tragedy in the mystery of the picture.

Created in 1866, when Jan was only twenty-eight years old, the romantic painting depicts the desperate protest of Tadeusz Reitan, a member of the Sejm (lower house of parliament) who witnessed the first partition of Poland in 1773. Unlike the sumptuously dressed crowd to his left, Tadeusz lies sprawled on the floor, his elbow resting on a crimson drapery and his shirt ripped to reveal his chest. Above it rises a majestic portrait depicting the Empress of Russia Catherine the Great.

While Reitan blocks the path and prevents the other members of the Diet from leaving, they look at him with a mixture of anguish, guilt and shame. The tragedy of this scene is compounded by the realization that this was only the first of three chapters that erased Poland from the map of Europe before the end of World War I.

Yang painted real historical figures, not semi-mythical heroes of legends. However, even in this seemingly historical picture, nationalistic romanticism is present in the heightened emotions of the figures, in the dramatic pose of Tadeusz himself and in the strangely theatrical presentation of the event that determined the tragic fate of Poland. Considered controversial by contemporaries and criticized for not representing the fall but the sale of Poland, Jan Matejko's Reitan is now considered one of the most famous Polish works of art.

5. Gheorghe Tattarescu

In southeastern Poland, another nation celebrated its rebirth in the midst of a revival of nationalist art. Formed in 1859, Romania celebrated its independence from the Ottomans and its national unity in art with a work depicting a long-awaited national awakening. The Romanian artist-turned-revolutionary expressed his hopes for the future of his state in a romantic painting entitled "February 11, 1866 - Modern Romania."

Gheorghe Tattarescu (1818-1894), one of the most versatile Romanian intellectuals of the mid-19th century, followed the example of Jacques Louis David and his portrayal of the French Revolution. Gheorghe, educated in Italy, raised in Moldavia and trained to paint icons by his uncle, is a unique example of a romantic artist from the post-Byzantine Orthodox cultural circle. Combining neoclassicism and romanticism, he managed to convey a message of hopeful revival.

A woman representing Romania holds a new national flag that flutters behind her. Broken chains dangle from her ankles and wrists as she takes to the sky. In the background, the sun rises over small churches and rocky ravines.

The painting sits between the emotional storms of Delacroix and the neoclassical calm of David. However, it is still a theatrical performance of a national drama superimposed on a vision of the future. Like “Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi” by Delacroix, this is another fiction story about a people who rose from the notorious ashes.

But by the end of the 19th century, historical paintings had lost their popularity. The First World War, the collapse of European empires and the formation of new independent states brought to the fore other artistic directions. However, romantic pictures remained in the people's memory. The works of Munkacci, Ivekovic, Jenisek, Matejko, Tattarescu and many other similar artists of the 19th century continue to shape the collective imagination to this day. The reproductions of these works, which are often found in textbooks, have shaped generations of people for better or worse.

Romantic art always focuses on visions rather than reality, projects rather than accepted facts. In a series of romantic paintings, one can trace the high aspirations of nationalists, who often diverged from each other and each other's historical narratives.

Romanticism is romanticism, but you always want to eat. At least that's what the artists think who happily portray food, looking at which, appetite can play out.