Enlightenment, Revolutions, and Art: A Historical Overview
Enlightenment
Criticisms and Proposals
They wanted to make substantial changes in society.
- Montesquieu: Argued for the separation of powers (legislative, executive, and judicial branches).
- Voltaire: Favored a strong monarchy and supported the existence of parliaments.
- Rousseau: Introduced the idea of popular sovereignty.
In economics, the Physiocrats argued that agriculture was the source of wealth and rejected mercantilism. In society, the thinkers criticized the social inequalities of the Estates System.
Enlightened Despotism
It was a new form of government. Its objective was to modernize the country and improve the quality of life, combining Enlightenment ideas and absolute monarchy.
They created centralized governments to consolidate their power and implement policies. To promote reform, they appointed enlightened thinkers to important positions. To avoid challenges to their power, they tried to make changes peacefully, through education and new laws. Some monarchs implemented the unification of the legal system, the modernization of the army, and the promotion of agriculture, industry, education, and culture.
Francisco de Goya
He was a court painter, the most significant Spanish artist of his time. He created his own personal style. The evolution and diversity of Goya’s work depended on his professional career as a court painter and his experiences during the War of Independence. An illness made Goya deaf, and he retired in Madrid.
His paintings were grouped into three periods: the Court Period, the Spanish War of Independence, and Retirement to his Estate.
Court Period
Cartoons for tapestries, portraits of the royal family and nobility, religious paintings, and prints from etchings. Use of pastel colors: pinks and blues, sense of depth. People’s psychological characteristics, attention to detail of clothing and fabric, popular festivals, and criticism of Spanish customs.
The Spanish War of Independence
Historical themes and prints from engravings, a variety of different poses with lots of action, protests against war and its consequences, criticism of the Ancien Régime, and depictions of bullfighting themes.
Retirement to his Estate and Exile
Black paintings and burgundy paintings, reflections on old age and death, dark colors and night scenes, depictions of daily life, and loose brushstrokes and less-defined figures.
Major Events of the French Revolution
National Assembly
The Third Estate proposed a new voting system in which each representative would have an individual vote. When the King refused, the Third Estate declared themselves the true representatives of the nation. They formed a National Assembly and demanded a constitution.
Constituent Assembly
The King agreed to the Third Estate’s demands, and a new Constituent Assembly was elected to write a constitution. Protesters began to riot in the streets of Paris and attacked the Bastille. In reaction to this, the Constituent Assembly implemented several legal reforms. The Declaration stated that all men are born free and equal in their rights. Worried by the Assembly, Louis XVI tried to escape to Austria to ask for support there. In 1791, the Constituent Assembly adopted a constitution which established a constitutional monarchy, popular sovereignty, separation of powers, and limited male suffrage.
Legislative Assembly
It was elected after the constitution was adopted to implement legal changes.
- The Girondins: They believed in the revolution but represented the interests of the bourgeoisie. Their political ideas became more moderate. They favored liberal economic policies and wanted to maintain limited suffrage.
- The Jacobins: Believed in the revolution, but their political ideas became more radical. They wanted to abolish the monarchy and put the King on trial, expand suffrage, and control price rises to help the workers. They gained support from the Parisian laborers (sans-culottes).
The Convention
After the election of a new assembly known as the Convention, Louis XVI was accused of treason and executed. Under the leadership of Robespierre, the Jacobins took control of the government and imposed a dictatorship known as the Terror. They tried to coordinate the European war while dealing with counter-revolutionary activities at home.
The Directory and The Consulate
France’s middle class gained control of the country. To stop the violence and executions, they established the Directory, a more conservative government composed of five members. General Napoleon Bonaparte organized a military coup and established a new form of government called the Consulate. This was a group of three leaders known as consuls, which included Napoleon himself as head of state and First Consul.