Romantic Tensions Gallery

Marie Antoinette was born November 2, 1755 to a Holy Roman Emperor Francis. She was born into high society and she remained there throughout her life. Growing up she was used as a pawn by her father when France and Austria were trying to come to an alliance during the Seven Years’ War. At only fourteen-years-old she was assigned to marry dauphin Louis, who was the grandson of King Louis XV. Through this marriage Marie was a representative of Austria in France during a bad time. Marie was seen as an enemy and traitor for the remainder of her life, even after the war ended. This is one of…

"Younger Memnon" was a statue brought to the British Museum in 1817 of Ramses II, who was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty in Egypt. Made from granodiorite and red granite, the statue stands at 266.80 centimeters tall and 203.3 centimeters wide. Ramses II, also known as Ramses the great, was originally known as Pramesse but took the name of the king before him. At age ten, he was appointed commander in chief of the Egyptian army, but this title was largely ceremonial. During his mid-teens he officially was named the prince-regent and heir of his father. When he was twenty- five…

Mont Blanc plays a very large role in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It's a mountain in the alps and is a vital aspect of Shelley's monster story. It is a mountain resting on the borders of France and Italy. Mont blanc is the highest peak in the alps and is the tallest mountain in western europe. The peak was first sumitted by a human being in the 18th century by Horace Benedicte de Saussere. There are many depictions of the momentous peak, and one of the most iconic pictures is of Victor Frankenstein peering out into the wilderness and admiring the views. The mountain is aimed towards the…

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog was painted in 1818 by German artist Caspar David Friedrich. Its perfectly captures the feeling of the sublime which was a prominent theme during the romantic period. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the sublime as “tending to inspire awe usually because of elevated quality (as of beauty, nobility, or grandeur) or transcendent excellence.” I would add that something that is sublime borders on the edge of fear, or even death, but not quite reach those points of dread or…

“Am I not a Man and a Brother?” was first produced by Josiah Wedgwood in 1787 as a medallion, roughly fifty years before the abolition of slavery in England. Of the image, University Professor John Barclay proclaims, "The slave in chains is kneeling in appeal to an unseen authority, evoking the emerging British self-image as a benevolent nation, committed to freedom and endued with the power to change the lives of others. … Both the quesion and its exact terms are important: it invites us to see this figure not as a ‘brute’, not as a ‘heathen’, not as a ‘savage’, now even as a ‘Negro’, but…

Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine was a British nobleman and soldier known primarily for the capture of the Parthenon Marbles (i.e. the Elgin Marbles). A member of a former royal house named “Bruce,” Thomas Bruce (who became known simply as “Elgin”) was born in Fife in 1766. Educated at Harrow and Westminster, Elgin became a dedicated soldier and served in the military for most of his life. In 1798, Elgin was appointed “Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary” to the Ottoman Empire – of which Greece was a part at that time. Before he left for Greece…

Seashore With Fishermen is a painting done by Thomas Gainsborough using oil on canvas. It was painted between 1781 and 1782. Thomas Gainsborough was born on May 14th, 1727 in Sudbury, England. His style was of both Rococo and Romanticism. He mainly worked on Portraits and landscapes. The Art Story says this of Gainsborough: “Thomas Gainsborough achieved name and fame as the best-known English artist of the 18th century for his outstanding innovations and techniques in both landscape and portraiture. Having been introduced to the Rococo style of art in the early part of his career,…

The ‘Am I Not a Man and a Brother’ image was a crucial image in the abolishment of slavery and the slave trade. Created by Josiah Wedgewood, it had a large impact in pushing back against slavery and creating a face for the abolishion movement. Later another image was created titled ‘Am I not a woman and a sister?’ The female version was circulated around the 1830s although the artist is unknown.
The ‘Am I not a woman and a sister?’ image is very similar to the ‘Am I not a man and a brother with a black slave kneeling on one knee. The slave is chained but is raising their arms as if…

This ship, named “Brookes”, was used to transport slaves in the late 18th century. However, this vessel was not originally designed to carry persons. To the left of the image you can see profile images that shows slaves were kept in the “hold” of the ship. The hold is the area of a ship designed to carry cargo, supplies, and any other objects that were not needed in higher decks. This area is often cold and dark to preserve goods if they were being transported across nations.

This image here was used to heighten the knowledge of what slave conditions were like. Used by slave-…

Durring the 1700s and into the 1800's there were many woman abolitionists that tried to do what they could to help the abolitionist movement in Britain. Since women durring that time had very little, if any, political power they got creative with how they planned to get their message across using writing, poetry, and illistrations to spread the word about the horrors of slavery. This image titled "The Negro Mothers Appeal" first appeared in eighteen twenty nine in an anti slavery scrapbook. The peice depicts a mother slave pleading to a white mother as their child is being taken away by a…

The title of this image is La dernière charette, 9 Thermidor 1794. "[It] depicts a cart carrying the last victims of the Reign of Terror to the guillotine; with on the right, a soldier on horseback and his men rushing to help a soldier who is trying to repel the angry mob on the left. c.1835 Lithograph." (The British Museum) In English, La dernière charette, 9 Thermidor 1794 means "The Last Cart, 9 Thermidor 1794. The picture depicts the parliamentary revolt during the French Revolution, which began July 27, 1794. This parliamentary revolt was called the…

The painting Liberty Leading the People was painted by Eugene Delacroix in 1830. It portrays a characterization of Lady Liberty. She is standing in the center of the canvas on top of a mountain of rubble, and what appear to be bodies. She is hoisting the French flag into the air, gesturing to go forth in the battle. Her dress is torn exposing her bare breast. She is surrounded by men. Some carry weapons, others are wounded or dead. In the bottom left hand corner the eye is drawn towards a dead man laying on the ground. He is not wearing pants and is completely exposed. 

Context: 

     In the time of political and social revolutions in the west, fashion was also undergoing its own revolutions. Gone were the frivolous and ornate fashions of the baroque and rococo styles; in was the seemingly simple and toned down regency style. Women’s clothing from 1790-1820 favored high waistlines and long skirts made of light fabrics such as muslin and gauze. Most scholars agree that the simplification and focus on comfort and movement reflects the growth of the push for greater rights for women during this time. The simple, graceful lines…

The Sorrows of Young Werther is a book written in 1774 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Inspired by Goethe's own troubles with romance in his own youth, the novel is a epistolary tale of unrequited love between the titular character Werther and his love interest, a young girl named Lotte. Charted through a collection of letters sent from Werther to a confidant, we learn more about Werther's problems. Werther himself is an interesting protagonist, sensitive and passionate; a slave to his emotions. Werther falls in love with a young girl named Lotte, who quickly becomes Werther's object of…

Joseph Mallord William Turner is known for his expressive and emotional paintings. He was a master of British landscape, known for his iconic, theatrical, and tumultuous scenes of nature. The Calais port sits on the north-west side of France at the English Channel's narrowest point and was used to cross over to England. Turner took this route a few times, and this painting is based on a time when he attempted to cross during a great storm. The strong winds come from the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, creating this uneasy scene next to the pier. 

Turner was very interested in…

Liberty Leads The People is a remarkably famous painting that illustrates the tree day revolution that occured on July 27- 29 of 1830. The revolution began when King Charles x denied the people of France their rights. Delacroix voice his patriotis mthrough this piece even though he did not take part in the short revolution. He famously stated, " I may not have fought for my country, at least I have painted for her." Delacroix painted in an onorthodox manner as he was known touse contrasting colors and hues to portray a more vivid message, instead of the more muted and dull collor pallets…

Originally a cloth fair, and beginning in 1133, the Bartholomew Fair was founded in West Smithfield, just beyond the London city walls. It was a pilgrimage and festival and by 1955 it developed into a major, two-week long fair with trading and entertainment that started each year on August 24th. This fair attracted crowds from all levels of English society: “It more or less illustrated the social history of the metropolis, and in some sort its trading practices” (Walford 164). It was also known as the biggest of the London fairs, bringing spectacle to people’s lives.

The very origin…

Historic Context: During the Romantic Era, child labor was common within impoverished communities and often resulted in horrific realities. Children who were orphans or from a background of poverty were often sold into work by parents or orphanages. The work these children were expected to do was not an easy task and was a very dangerous environment. As soon as parents could find work for the child they were forced to go, the age of child labor ranged from three and up. Even with parliament intervention earlier on, this was not truly monitored until after the Romantic Era. An example of…

History: The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli was painted in 1781 and was first shown to the public in 1782. He originally sold the painting for twenty guineas. Now, it is displayed at the Detroit Institute of Arts in the United States and is worth $3 - $4 million. The Nightmare is a very special painting, because it is one of the first to solely convey an idea, rather than a specific person or place. Henry Fuseli never revealed his exact intentions or meanings behind his painting. Socially, his painting was created during the “Age of Reason,” when most people had stopped…

This watercolor was done by George Elgar Hicks in 1957. It portrays the two "separate spheres" that women and men were assigned to.  In the painting the viewer can see that the man has his work clothes on and a tool slung over his shoulder, exposing his subtle muscular physique. His gaze is towards the horizon, where he will head to work and also to the future. The woman is wearing a beautiful dress, tucked up by her waist, ready to work at their home. Her gaze is directed towards her husband. She is looking up to him, seemingly accepting her role to stay at home. The wife also…