The Romanticism of Revolution Memorialized by David, Delacroix, Gros & Gericault

There was a sense of urgency, a sense of extreme indignation, a sense of spiritual hunger. This "hunger for freedom of movement, growth, enterprise, worship, thought, speech and the press; and hunger for equality of access to opportunity, education, health and legal justice" became the battle cry. The cry was the offspring of the Romantic Movement claimed by David, Beethoven, Diderot, Marat and Delacroix and in some ways they themselves became victims of the fallacy of hope. Their impulses ignited like flames shooting up through the cracks of the earth's crust. Then came the explosive eruption that for so long had been burning under the surface of the 18th century, and was now ready to blast the very foundations of Europe. The French Revolution and the "Thereafter" evolved from the protests of a few disgruntled lawyers and a few ambitious cock-eyed university students, added with the grunts and groans of the bourgeois. Thus emboldened the raw scream of a movement.

Join us as we explore the life and works of the Romanticists, David, Delacroix, Gros & Gericault as they seek to transform Europe in the years leading up to the French Revolution. Presented by Professor Karri Fritz-Klaus of Cornerstone History Symposium.

This is the second lecture in a five-part series, “Revolution Pictured in Frames.” Mark your calendar for the next presentation (7/8: Manet & Daumier). Free to attend. No registration required.