Gallery of Romanticism at the Virtual Museum

Art

          The painting known as Nightmare by Fuseli is a popular addition to the art created during the romantic period. It was first exhibited in 1782 at the Royal Academy of London, and became incredibly well-known. In this painting, there is a woman lying asleep on a bed, while an incubus can be seen sitting on her while sending us an eerie glare. The horse and the incubus represent the nightmares that go through the woman’s mind as she sleeps.  Its dark concept and demonic imagery makes it an art piece that explores “the dark side of the natural world in pursuit of supernatural forces” (5). 

Poem

Ode to the West Wind

O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,

Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,

Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,

Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed

The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,

Each like a corpse within its grave,until

Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow

Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill

(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)

With living hues and odours plain and hill:

Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;

Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!

(this is only part of the poem)

          Here in Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind, nature is viewed as a source of beauty and experience. Words such as autumn, leaves, seeds, buds, and hill help emphasize the natural elements in the poem. There are clear links to the environment and art through powerful metaphors and imagery, which is very prominent in romantic poetry. 

Literature

          Despite it being written almost 200 years ago, The Hunchback of Notre Dame has remained as classic, and has even been turned into a children's animated film. Written in 1831, Hugo’s story about a disfigured man loving a beautiful woman captured audiences everywhere. This story is considered to be a romantic novel due to its focus on human emotions and the problems tied with society, rather than order and ideals. 

 Historical Quote

“A house divided against itself cannot stand....I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.” (Abraham Lincoln)

My interpretation- Elements of a house that do not work together to support it will eventually lead to its destruction. For a government, it is the same. When a country is divided amongst itself, there will be no order or harmony.

Abraham Lincoln’s view on slavery is a very important issue in American history. He did not support slavery and thus tried to abolish it from the country. He did not remove it immediately, but as part of his platform for the 1864 election, he proposed the 13^th amendment, which officially outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude. It was passed by the senate on April 8^th, 1864, and was the beginning of change in America.