The period of Neoclassicism in the visual arts was an age of Classical revival, drawing directly on antiquity itself. At a time when archaeologists were making fresh dicoveries and The Grand Tour of ancient sites in the Mediateranian was in vogue, Neoclassicism flourished and spread in all directions as far as St Petersburg, Philadelphia and Sydney. Neoclacissism was the favourite style of Napoleon and Thomas Jefferson and became the most pervasive stle in the history of European art. David Irwin's text provides insight into the richness and variety of the movement and embraces all manifestations of Neoclassicism from its broad territorial scope to its appeal for every branch of art.

Author Biography

David Irwin, Professor Emeritus of Art History at the University of Aberdeen, is an authority on the art of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His books include English Neoclassical Art, Winckelmann: Writings on Art and John Flaxman.