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Period: Jan 1, 1300 to
Renaissance
Meaning "Rebirth", the Renaissance consisted of the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance, a cultural rebirth from the two-dimensional Middle Ages. This period presented a revival of Classical interest, the study of ancient Greece and Rome, and humanism, which shifted societal interest from a divine being to the importance of mankind and its accomplishments. -
Apr 15, 1452
Leonardo da Vinci [Renaissance]
Leonardo da Vinci was the embodiment of the "Renaissance Man", as an architect, artist, astronomer, engineer, inventor, mathematician, scientist, and writer. His famous paintings include Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, but as a man of many trades, da Vinci was the epitome of Renaissance humanism, or the importance of man over divine beings. -
Jan 30, 1505
Thomas Tallis [Renaissance]
Thomas Tallis is often regarded as the most brilliant English composer of all time, whose musical service to the British monarchy lasted four different rulers. Queen Elizabeth I granted him exclusive rights to use England's printing press for vocal music, and some of his work reflects the contemporary battle between Catholicism and Protestantism, printing music in English, French, Italian, and Latin. -
Sep 29, 1547
Miguel de Cervantes [Renaissance]
Miguel de Cervantes authored Don Quixote, seen as the most important literature of the Spanish Golden Age. Don Quixote is called "The First Modern Novel", featuring two men, one representing realism and the other idealism, and as the latter desperately attempts to revive chivalry and fails, the novel becomes satirical of chivalry and idealism. This support of realism reflects the Renaissance rejection of the idealism of the Middle Ages, as man became more focused on life over divinity. -
Apr 26, 1564
William Shakespeare [Renaissance]
Shakespeare is considered the most important literary figure of the English-speaking world, for his many plays and sonnets which were a new humanist interest of the Renaissance Era. Shakespeare's plays, sonnets, and their morals were of intellectual value and interest, which portrayed the Renaissance theme of a craving for knowledge, as well as an appreciation for the arts like never before under Queen Elizabeth I, as, in the Renaissance, Earthly matters were of a heightened concern. -
Period: to
Baroque
The Baroque Period and style were filled with drama and grandeur, often featuring elaborate and exaggerated works that represented a revival of the Catholic Church after the Counter-Reformation in Europe. In reaction to the Baroque Period was the Rococo, or "Late Baroque" style, which displayed a more jovial, indulgent, and often superficial image of the wealthy and aristocrats, associated with the early 18th century. -
Rembrandt van Rijn [Baroque]
Rembrandt van Rijn is often considered the most important Dutch artist of all time, as a draftsman, painter, and print maker of the Dutch Golden Age. His biblical illustrations represent the popular style of Baroque art, which was heavily influenced by the Catholic Church as well as Baroque realism, although some of his biblical works are noted for their emotion and empathy for man. -
John Milton [Baroque]
John Milton was one of the most successful Baroque Period poets, most famously-known for his Paradise Lost, in which he uses the biblical story of the Garden of Eden in order to justify the acts of God on men. This work reflects the religious resurgence in the arts of the Baroque Period, focused more on moral stories than indulgences. Milton took a stance as a heavily-religious man in a time of religious turmoil, using his story to show the importance of following God's word and morale. -
Johann Pachelbel [Baroque]
Johann Pachelbel is most famously known for his Canon in D Major, and although many of his other pieces have been lost, he mostly wrote for the church. Pachelbel was the major musical influence of his contemporary, J.S. Bach, who is often considered the most important composer of the Baroque period, and whose music bears a close stylistic resemblance to Pachelbel's. -
Jean Antoine-Watteau [Late Baroque]
Jean Antoine-Watteau is regarded as the bridge between classical Baroque to Rococo-influenced art, associated with the fetes galantes in his Embarkation for Cythera, which features light-hearted images of the wealthy at an outdoor party. Watteau revived the Baroque period with the "Late Baroque" Rococo art, creating whimsical-if-not-superficial images as opposed to the severity of the traditional Baroque style. -
Jaques Louis-David [Classical]
Jaques Louis-David is considered the preeminent painter of the Classical [Neoclassical] Period, with works that feature a revival of the Classic interest in morale over the superficiality of the Rococo Period. His creation, The Oath of the Horatii, depicts soldiers sword-fighting to defend their cities, Rome and Alba-Longa, showing the importance of masculinity and self-sacrifice, which was also an allusion to republican ideals of the time - the French Revolution took place four years later. -
Period: to
Classical
The Classical Period, influenced by the Enlightenment, began as a reaction to the superficiality of the Rococo style, and presented another revival in Greek and Roman antiquity. Neoclassicism was the prominent artistic movement at the time, featuring more heroic and serious subjects that portrayed morals over frivolity. Musically speaking, the Classical Period was less intricate and more structured than the Baroque, -
Ludwig van Beethoven [Classical-Romantic]
Ludwig van Beethoven was a true revolutionary in that he began composing music within the bounds of the structured Classical Period, and then created the bridge to the Romantic Period by filling his pieces with emotion. In only nine symphonies Beethoven totally changed contemporary musical style. -
Jane Austen [Classical]
As the most widely-recognized literary figure after Shakespeare, Jane Austen emulated the style of the Classical Period well in her novels, especially Pride and Prejudice. Much of the revival of the Classical Period was influenced by the Enlightenment, as both the Enlightenment and Austen's novel(s) analyze society and the true fulfillment of existence, in Austen's case the idea that love can overpower all, a kind of abstract idea that could pave the way for the Romantic Period later. -
Lord Byron [Romantic]
Lord Byron is credited as one of the most influential English poets of all time, as well as a leading figure of the Romantic Period. He is an example of extreme Romanticism for his flamboyance, indulgence, and many love affairs, and even died pursuing heroism in Greece. His poems were known to rouse emotion, often utilizing drama, tragedy, lyricism, and narrative drama, and further Byron's reputation as the embodiment of the Romantic Period. -
Eugene Delacroix [Romantic]
Eugene Delacroix was a revolutionary Romantic Period artist, conveying emotion with brushstrokes that would inspire the Impressionist art movement. He was associated with illustrations of the sublime and with violence, as depicted in his Arab Horseman Attacked by a Lion, which features a majestic horse and his cape-clad rider being bitten into by a lion, with brushstrokes that effectively convey light and dark. -
Period: to
Romantic
The Romantic Period began as a reaction to the rationality of the Classical Period and the Industrial Revolution, emphasizing emotion and individualism in man and the importance of nature and the Sublime. The Romantic Period was influenced by the social upheaval of the French Revolution, and is associated with the ideals of liberalism and nationalism. -
Pyotr [Peter] Ilyich Tchaikovsky [Romantic]
Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky is best known for his Romantic Period ballet music and symphonies, one of the most popular composers of all time, his works including Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. His music, like the theme of the Romantic Period, was cheerful and light-hearted, although he is also considered as composer of Classical-influenced works. -
Claude Debussy [Romantic-Impressionism]
Claude Debussy's music is considered distinctly different from much of that of the Romantic Period, influenced by the symbolism Impressionism in Parisian art, and is regarded as the Father of Musical Impressionism, and sometimes as France's Greatest Composer. Debussy reflected Impressionism in his work by utilizing tonal ambiguity and sensuous harmony, believing music to be emotional and boundless. -
Pablo Picasso [20th Century]
Pablo Picasso is the co-founder of Cubism, a 20th century style of art that used a collage style to create an idea of multiple perspectives, which shocked the art community. Cubism was abstract, a representation of the 20th century movement towards thought-provoking art over distinct images. His Cubism also evolved into Surrealism, a movement melding dream and reality and art, as shown in his Guernica, a political response to the destruction of World War I in an anti-war piece. -
Period: to
20th Century Modernism
In 20th century art, there was a shift to abstract style and emotion over portraying exact images, influenced by the late 19th century developments of impressionism and symbolism. This was a time of severe change for Western culture because information and knowledge were spread faster than ever, influencing new developments in music and styles of art that differed drastically from previous centuries, as well as the ideal of equal rights for all people, providing for 20th century feminism. -
Simone de Beauvoir [20th Century]
Simone de Beauvoir was a philosopher, feminist and author of the 20th century, known for her writing The Second Sex, which addressed the treatment and oppression of women throughout history, and is regarded as a basis for modern feminist theory. After centuries of varying oppression, women underwent a major movement for equality in 20th century feminism, a movement that had been previously tried and failed in previous centuries. -
The Beatles [20th Century]
The Beatles were a revolutionary group of the 20th century, transforming pop music as it is known today, and melding young people and adults into one musical audience for the first time. They were among the first artists to write and record their own music, had a completely different "sound" from their contemporaries, and commanded an unseen following that influenced not only musical taste, but the fashion industry and the diaspora of European artists to the United States.