The Benedictine Convent of Santa Scholastica
Landscape with Cave, Tombs, and Ruins by Moonlight
Autumn Evening on the Lake
From Classicism to Romanticism in German Art
From Classicism to Romanticism in Germany
Around 1800, several artistic currents flourished side by side in the German-speaking lands, all shaped by a renewed fascination with the past. Neoclassicism looked back to the world of Mediterranean antiquity, taking its ideals of harmony, clarity and proportion from Greek and Roman art. Romanticism, by contrast, found inspiration in the Middle Ages, in northern legends and in works such as The Songs of Ossian, presented as poems by a 3rd-century Scottish bard but later revealed as an 18th-century literary fabrication.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a passionate admirer of classical art after his travels in Italy, played a key role in promoting a taste for the Antique in Germany. In a politically fragmented region, this shared admiration for classical antiquity offered a cultural ideal that many hoped could serve as a unifying thread.
Around 1800, several artistic currents flourished side by side in the German-speaking lands, all shaped by a renewed fascination with the past. Neoclassicism looked back to the world of Mediterranean antiquity, taking its ideals of harmony, clarity and proportion from Greek and Roman art. Romanticism, by contrast, found inspiration in the Middle Ages, in northern legends and in works such as The Songs of Ossian, presented as poems by a 3rd-century Scottish bard but later revealed as an 18th-century literary fabrication.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a passionate admirer of classical art after his travels in Italy, played a key role in promoting a taste for the Antique in Germany. In a politically fragmented region, this shared admiration for classical antiquity offered a cultural ideal that many hoped could serve as a unifying thread.
Italian Landscape with Bridge
Italian Landscape
Incantation Scene with Witch
Lunch Hour
Medieval Knights Battle at Wartburg Castle
Bust Portrait of a Young Man
Young Man Hiding Face in Hand
St Michaels Chapel in Kiedrich
Riverscape with Figures and Carriage
Owl on a Grave
The Souls on the Styx
View Towards Karlsbad in Bohemia
From Classicism to Romanticism in German Art
From Classicism to Romanticism in Germany
Around 1800, several currents rooted in the past coexisted in German art. Neoclassicism looked to Mediterranean Antiquity, while Romanticism turned to the Middle Ages, Nordic legends, and The Songs of Ossian, attributed to a supposed 3rd-c. Scottish poet who captivated painters and musicians until exposed as a fraud. After his journeys to Italy, Goethe became a fervent advocate of Classical art and helped popularize the Antique in Germany, where it offered a shared cultural reference within a politically divided territory.
Around 1800, several currents rooted in the past coexisted in German art. Neoclassicism looked to Mediterranean Antiquity, while Romanticism turned to the Middle Ages, Nordic legends, and The Songs of Ossian, attributed to a supposed 3rd-c. Scottish poet who captivated painters and musicians until exposed as a fraud. After his journeys to Italy, Goethe became a fervent advocate of Classical art and helped popularize the Antique in Germany, where it offered a shared cultural reference within a politically divided territory.
Studies of Male Heads
Study of a Male Nude
Romantic Germany – Drawings from the Museums of Weimar
“Romantic Germany – Drawings from the Museums of Weimar” offers a focused journey into German art around 1800, when Classicism and Romanticism flourished side by side. Through delicate drawings and graphic works, the exhibition shows how artists looked back to earlier eras, from clear lines and balanced forms inspired by Mediterranean Antiquity to more emotional visions rooted in medieval imagery and northern legends.
Visitors encounter works shaped by Goethe’s enthusiasm for Classical art after his travels to Italy, alongside sheets that echo the mystical atmosphere of The Songs of Ossian and other poetic sources. Together, these drawings trace how a fragmented German world sought identity in the past while experimenting with new sensibilities, creating an intimate panorama of shifting ideals where reason and imagination, history and myth, coexist on the same page.
Visitors encounter works shaped by Goethe’s enthusiasm for Classical art after his travels to Italy, alongside sheets that echo the mystical atmosphere of The Songs of Ossian and other poetic sources. Together, these drawings trace how a fragmented German world sought identity in the past while experimenting with new sensibilities, creating an intimate panorama of shifting ideals where reason and imagination, history and myth, coexist on the same page.
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