In today’s lecture, we look at a range of works from the period of Romanticism. Romanticism as a movement is defined by a rejection of Neoclassical rationality and authority and an embrace of emotion and Rubanist principles. We looked particularly at the French Romantics, whose works were heavily influenced by the politics so of the time, mainly the rule of Napoleon. Napoleon’s empire shook French culture, not only because they had gone from monarchy to anarchy to empire, but because Napoleon’s conquests into the East created a fascination with these new and “exotic” cultures. This concept, known as orientalism, is seen greatly in Ingres’ Grande Odalisque. The work references and almost imitates Titian Venus of Urbino, a famous work from the Venetian Renaissance. Ingres elongation of the woman’s back and the impossible pose she takes on is similar to Pargmagino’s Madonna with the Long Neck. Further, the face and hair wrap is similar to those seen in Raphel’s work. Ingres is clearly pulling influence from these Renaissance masters to show his knowledge of the arts, but he puts a twist on this. Unlike Neoclassistics who used references to the Renaissance and antiquity to imbue their works with meaning and morality, that is not Ingres’s aim. This work is meant to be dreamy and make the viewer fantasize about these exotic figures and places. It’s sensuality and light-heartedness is almost Rocco. This piece is definitely a transitional work of the Romantic period, as its lack of emotion and linearity is clinging to Neoclassical tradition.