Lorentz, Stanisław; Rottermund, Andrzej: Neoclassicism in Poland (Warsaw, 1986)

Introduction

The term “classical” is used to denote works of art from a variety of periods and styles.
Harmony, symmetry and rhythm, so strongly interrelated that they evoke an impression of
order, balance, calm and dignity, are given as the charaeteristic features of classical art.
Classical art is understood to be an art which is static, elear and lucid; which is linear rather
than painterly; which operates with simple forms; and which is modest in decoration.
Classical art is said to follow rules and instructions; to be fuli of rationalism, moderation and
on a human scalę. In different periods, to a greater or lesser extent, classical revivals have been
inspired by the art of ancient Greece and Romę. Those who have supported classical art have
thought it perfect.
The theory of classicism was formulated in the second half of the 17th century by the Roman
connoisseur of antiąuity Bellori, a representative of St. Luke’s Academy. His cultof Raphael
and his conviction that after a period of decline the Carracci had reinstated respect for the
rules of art and its strict order, were taken over by the łater theoreticians and supporters of
classicism. In the last third of the 18th century the aesthetic theory of the arts shared and
advocated the view that there was only one art, that some of its forms were perfect, that the
forms were absolute and eternal: that Naturę had given patterns and Reason could find in
them immutable rules. Since the declaration of Johann Joachim Winckelmann in the middle
of the 18th century it is above all Greek art, characterized by its “noble simplicity and sedate
grandeur”, that has been considered classical. This view was expressed in the aesthetic
writings in the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, which
claimed that Greek art was Naturę intensified to an ideał, that to follow Naturę meant almost
the same as to follow the Greeks, and that to follow the Greeks meant to create as they had,
rather than to imitate.
In different periods classical and neoclassical art took on a great variety of forms. The 5th
century B.C. was regarded as the classical period in the art of Greece; classical art was
sometimes understood to have covered both Greek and Roman art. Renaissance art, and
specifically the art of the first ąuarter of the 16th century, was defined as classical. The
classical trend in baroąue architecture in the 17th and 18th century was introduced by the
Italian architect Andrea Palladio, who worked from 1540 to 1580, and hence it was called
Palladianism. For the French, the classical period in their art was that in the second half of the
17th century.
In the middle of the 18th century a new neoclassical movement began to form. It gradually
spread to the culturally leading countries of Europę and to North America. Changes in
political, social, economic and intellectual life, and above all the French rationalism and the
development of physical and natural Sciences and humanities, affected the formation and
development of this new trend. There was an inerease in interest in the art of ancient Romę,
manifested by, among other things, archaeological excavations, most notably those in
Herculaneum and Pompeii. In time, this interest spread to include Greece. Art theory and
history developed, mainly due to the works of Winckelmann, who laid the foundations for
modern research on ancient art. There was a distinct turn to the art of the Renaissance,
particularly to the painting of Raphael, and the Palladian style became widespread in
architecture.
The arts reflected the Enlightenment philosophy, which set itself practical aims, endeavoured
to improve thought and life, and advocated the gaining of knowledge for the enlightenment of
minds and liberation from superstitions, ignorance and belief in the supernatural. The

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