Neoclassical Architecture Compared to

Greek and Roman Architecture

Taking an Interest in the Classical

• Grand Tour– Went all over Europe, including Rome and

sometimes Greece•Enlightenment (Age of Reason)

–Use intellectual knowledge to recreate society•Excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii

Greece and Rome: Ideal Models

• Greece and Rome represented:– Liberty– Civic virtue– Morality– Sacrifice– Civilized society

•Ideal models during political upheaval

Style of Neoclassicism

• Appealing because it could portray qualities associated with democratic purity or unshakeable authority

• Ideas of different political rule all fell within Neoclassicism:– Republic government– Imperial rule

• Architecture served as an excellent vehicle for consolidating authority because of its public presence.

Greek and Roman

Parthenon by Iktinos and KallikratesAthens 437 BCE – 432 BCE

Temple of Fortuna VirilisRome 75 BCE

Maison CarréeNîmes 1-10 CE

ColosseumRome 70 CE – 80 CE

PantheonRome 118 CE- 125 CE

Neoclassical

Chiswick House by Richard Boyle and William KentNear London 1725

Panthéon (Sainte-Geneviéve)by Jacques-Germain Soufflot

Paris 1755-1792

Royal Crescent by John Wood the YoungerBath 1769-1775

Monticello by Thomas JeffersonVirginia 1770-1806

La Madeleine by Pierre VignonParis 1807-1842