The Darkness of PhilosophiesThe era of Enlightenment had a very strong impact on the art we create today. The Age of Enlightenment had three philosophies: neoclassical, romanticism, and realism. All three of these ended up tying together in immense ways. By 1789 a revolution had begun and as a result the art of these eras became dark and depressing. They had many similarities not only in the artwork, but also in the artists. Two works that are examples of this are Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David and Saturn Devouring One of His Sons by Francisco Goya. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay The Death of Marat was created by Jacques-Louis David in 1793. This artwork was created with oil paint on canvas. The painting depicts the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat. Marat was a writer for the revolution, who not only had an influence on the revolution, but was also a friend of David. Marat was depicted lying in a bathtub against a dark wall. He's slumped to the side and has a smile on his face. You can see the red blood in the water, on the white sheets behind him, and on the paper in his hand. He holds a quill pen in his right hand and you can see the knife to the left of his right hand on the floor. The scene is based on the moment a member of the rival political faction, Charlotte Corday, stabbed him to death while he was writing in the bathtub. The colors in this painting are very muddy and dull, but the story behind it is dark and almost monstrous. This was a neoclassical painting and the first war type painting. It was the beginning of dark and somewhat wild works of art (Kleiner, 785). Saturn Devouring One of His Sons was created by Francisco Goya between 1819 and 1823. This artwork was originally created as a fresco, but was later detached and mounted on a canvas. It shows the mythological tale of Saturn devouring his son, after learning of a prophecy that one of his sons would dethrone him. This dark fresco shows Saturn as a large monster with wild eyes and muddy skin, holding a small, mangled body. The body is made to be more human-like, even though it is headless and its arm is stuffed into Saturn's large mouth. There is bright red blood dripping down the body and pooling around Saturn's hands. The scene is extremely bloody and disturbing. It is made up of dull, muddy colors and makes viewers' stomachs turn with disgust and horror. Goya created this fresco to express his depression regarding the passage of time. The Greek name for Saturn, Kronos, is extremely similar to the Greek word khronos, meaning time. This is what encouraged the idea of his artwork. This piece comes from the philosophy of Romanticism which presents the dark emotional artworks that Romanticism is supposed to convey (Kleiner, 805). Both of these works are very similar in many aspects, contextually and visually. Both have historical elements behind them. The Death of Marat is a propaganda painting based on the assassination of one of his closest friends. It is a real historical event that happened before. Saturn devouring one of his children is a mythological historical tale, however, it is not based on actual events. This artwork also has an emotional story behind it and is more personal rather than propaganda for the revolution. Both convey death, sadness and violence, brought by the revolution. Both of these paintings have extremely muddy and dark colors, except for the brightness of the skin and the bright red blood. Both are on dark backgrounds. Overall these works are very similar in many.
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