Between the Olympian and the Dionysian: Pagan Energy in Paintings by Frederic Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema
This article aims at examining the tension that characterizes some representations of Antiquity in the works of British painters of the 1860s-1890s as well as the critical reception of those works in contemporary periodicals and monographs. The artists who revived the subjects and forms of Antiquity...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2014-09-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/1507 |
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| author | Anne-Florence Gillard-Estrada |
| author_facet | Anne-Florence Gillard-Estrada |
| author_sort | Anne-Florence Gillard-Estrada |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article aims at examining the tension that characterizes some representations of Antiquity in the works of British painters of the 1860s-1890s as well as the critical reception of those works in contemporary periodicals and monographs. The artists who revived the subjects and forms of Antiquity have been labelled as ‘Classical Painters’ and ‘Olympians’ because of their supposed idealization of Antiquity. And yet the term ‘Olympian’ is highly problematic as it evacuates the ambivalence that characterizes that painting. Such taxonomy indeed evokes the Apollonian while precluding the Dionysian dimension that is in fact present in some of their representations of the antique body. This article first draws on examples taken from Frederic Leighton’s production to show the conflict between the Greek ideal as propounded by the neo-Winckelmannian aesthetic and academic tradition and a more controversial vision of Greek culture exploring more unconventional aspects of paganism. Leighton was in fact deeply influenced by Walter Pater’s revision of Greek culture. Lawrence Alma-Tadema also aimed at exploring the pagan and Dionysian dimensions in his own representations of rituals. The return to Greece in painting was therefore riddled with contradictions, but it contributed to the re-definition of the aesthetics associated with Antiquity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f53a91652e9640a784362706c6cb8c6e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-09-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj-art-f53a91652e9640a784362706c6cb8c6e2025-01-30T10:20:39ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492014-09-018010.4000/cve.1507Between the Olympian and the Dionysian: Pagan Energy in Paintings by Frederic Leighton and Lawrence Alma-TademaAnne-Florence Gillard-EstradaThis article aims at examining the tension that characterizes some representations of Antiquity in the works of British painters of the 1860s-1890s as well as the critical reception of those works in contemporary periodicals and monographs. The artists who revived the subjects and forms of Antiquity have been labelled as ‘Classical Painters’ and ‘Olympians’ because of their supposed idealization of Antiquity. And yet the term ‘Olympian’ is highly problematic as it evacuates the ambivalence that characterizes that painting. Such taxonomy indeed evokes the Apollonian while precluding the Dionysian dimension that is in fact present in some of their representations of the antique body. This article first draws on examples taken from Frederic Leighton’s production to show the conflict between the Greek ideal as propounded by the neo-Winckelmannian aesthetic and academic tradition and a more controversial vision of Greek culture exploring more unconventional aspects of paganism. Leighton was in fact deeply influenced by Walter Pater’s revision of Greek culture. Lawrence Alma-Tadema also aimed at exploring the pagan and Dionysian dimensions in his own representations of rituals. The return to Greece in painting was therefore riddled with contradictions, but it contributed to the re-definition of the aesthetics associated with Antiquity.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/1507paganismAlma-Tadema (Lawrence)ApollonianBritish classical revival in PaintingDionysianGreek ideal |
| spellingShingle | Anne-Florence Gillard-Estrada Between the Olympian and the Dionysian: Pagan Energy in Paintings by Frederic Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens paganism Alma-Tadema (Lawrence) Apollonian British classical revival in Painting Dionysian Greek ideal |
| title | Between the Olympian and the Dionysian: Pagan Energy in Paintings by Frederic Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema |
| title_full | Between the Olympian and the Dionysian: Pagan Energy in Paintings by Frederic Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema |
| title_fullStr | Between the Olympian and the Dionysian: Pagan Energy in Paintings by Frederic Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema |
| title_full_unstemmed | Between the Olympian and the Dionysian: Pagan Energy in Paintings by Frederic Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema |
| title_short | Between the Olympian and the Dionysian: Pagan Energy in Paintings by Frederic Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema |
| title_sort | between the olympian and the dionysian pagan energy in paintings by frederic leighton and lawrence alma tadema |
| topic | paganism Alma-Tadema (Lawrence) Apollonian British classical revival in Painting Dionysian Greek ideal |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/1507 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anneflorencegillardestrada betweentheolympianandthedionysianpaganenergyinpaintingsbyfredericleightonandlawrencealmatadema |