Classicism in the arts refers to a strong respect for the styles and standards of ancient Greece and Rome. These standards include a focus on clear shapes, simple designs, balanced proportions, and calm emotions. Classic art aims to be formal and controlled. Sir Kenneth Clark once said that if people dislike the restraint in classic art, they are actually disagreeing with the principles of classicism itself. He explained that adding too much energy or movement would harm the balance and completeness that made classic art respected for many years. Classicism includes a set of widely accepted standards for beauty, as discussed in Clark's book The Nude (1956).

Classicism has been a major influence in European art and culture after the medieval period, especially in places shaped by European traditions. Some time periods, like the Age of Enlightenment, felt a stronger connection to classical ideals. During this time, Neoclassicism became an important movement in visual arts.

General term

Classicism is a type of philosophy that appears in many areas like literature, art, and music. It has roots in Ancient Greece and Rome and focuses on society. It was especially seen during the Neoclassicism of the Age of Enlightenment.

Classicism was a common feature in the Late Antique period and had a major revival in Carolingian and Ottonian art. Another, longer revival happened during the Italian Renaissance. This revival was influenced by the fall of Byzantium and increased trade with Islamic cultures, which brought knowledge from Ancient Europe. Before this time, people saw their history as a continuous story of Christendom since the conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine I. Renaissance classicism added many new ideas to European culture, such as using mathematics and observation in art, humanism, realistic storytelling, and formal rules. It also introduced Polytheism, or "paganism," and the mixing of ancient and modern ideas.

The classicism of the Renaissance led to a different understanding of what was "classical" in the 16th and 17th centuries. During this time, classicism focused more on structure, order, predictability, geometry, and strict rules. It also emphasized the creation of schools for art and music. The court of Louis XIV was a central place for this form of classicism. It used symbols from Greek mythology to support ideas of strong leadership, followed logical reasoning, and valued order and predictability.

This period aimed to revive classical art forms, such as Greek drama and music. Modern European opera began as an effort to recreate the mix of singing, dancing, and theatre that was thought to be common in ancient Greece. Examples of this revival include writers like Dante, Petrarch, and Shakespeare in poetry and theatre. Tudor drama especially followed classical ideals, dividing plays into Tragedy and Comedy. Learning Ancient Greek became an important part of a well-rounded education in the liberal arts.

The Renaissance also brought back architectural styles from Ancient Greece and Rome, such as the golden rectangle for building proportions, the classical column designs, and details from ancient buildings. Artists also revived techniques like bronze casting for sculptures and used realistic styles in drawing, painting, and sculpture.

The Age of Enlightenment saw a vision of antiquity that connected to earlier classicism but was changed by discoveries like Newton’s physics, improvements in machines, and ideas from Greek history, especially their battles against the Persian Empire. The complex styles of the Baroque period were replaced by movements that called themselves "classical" or "neo-classical." For example, the paintings of Jacques-Louis David aimed to return to balance, clarity, strength, and energy in art.

In the 19th century, classicism was seen as the foundation for academicism, including scientific ideas like uniformitarianism and strict categories in art. Some Romantic movements saw themselves as reviving classical ideas to oppose emotional and irregular trends, such as the Pre-Raphaelites. By this time, earlier classical movements, like the Renaissance, were studied as a way to blend medieval and classical styles. The 19th century continued many classical ideas in science, especially Newton’s work on energy movement between objects.

In the 20th century, classicism was used by people who either rejected or accepted changes in politics, science, and society. Some saw it as a way to move away from the 19th century’s heavy focus on tradition, while others used it to support new artistic styles that valued simplicity, space, and clear forms.

Today, in philosophy, classicism is often linked to the idea of favoring rationality and controlled emotional expression over strong emotions. This is called the Apollonian influence compared to the Dionysian.

In the theatre

Classicism in theatre began in the 17th century when French playwrights used rules from Greek theatre, including the "Classical unities" of time, place, and action, which were described in Aristotle's Poetics.

French playwrights such as Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, and Molière followed these classical rules. During the Romanticism period, Shakespeare, who did not follow these rules, became a topic of debate in France. The Romantics eventually supported Shakespeare's style, and Victor Hugo was one of the first French playwrights to reject the classical rules.

It is unclear how much the French rules influenced playwrights in other countries. In England, playwrights like William Wycherley and William Congreve were familiar with these rules. Shakespeare and his contemporaries did not follow the classical style, partly because they were not French and because they wrote many years before these rules were established. Some of Shakespeare's plays, like The Tempest, may show influences from ancient Greek theatre rather than the French rules.

In the 18th century, Italian playwright and libretist Carlo Goldoni created a new style of playwriting that blended elements from Molière, Commedia dell'arte, and his own creative ideas.

In literature

The classical style in literature was influenced by the balance and harmony found in important works from ancient Greek and Latin writings.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, important Classical writers (mainly playwrights and poets) included Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, John Dryden, William Wycherley, William Congreve, Jonathan Swift, Joseph Addison, Alexander Pope, Voltaire, Carlo Goldoni, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.

In architecture

Classicism in architecture began during the Italian Renaissance, especially in the work of Leon Battista Alberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. This style focuses on balance, proportion, geometry, and the regular shapes found in the architecture of ancient Rome, many examples of which still exist today.

Architects used orderly designs, such as columns, pilasters, lintels, semicircular arches, domes, niches, and aedicules. These replaced the more complicated and irregular designs of medieval buildings. This style spread quickly to other Italian cities and later to France, Germany, England, Russia, and other places.

In the 16th century, Sebastiano Serlio helped organize the classical orders, and Andrea Palladio’s work led to the long tradition of Palladian architecture. Later, in the 17th century, architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren helped make classicism a major style in England.

For more about how classicism developed from the mid-18th century onward, see Neoclassical architecture.

In the fine arts

Italian Renaissance painting and sculpture are characterized by their revival of classical forms, themes, and subjects. In the 15th century, Leon Battista Alberti helped explain many ideas for painting that were later fully developed in Raphael's School of Athens during the High Renaissance. These themes continued into the 17th century, when artists like Nicolas Poussin and Charles Le Brun created works that showed a strict classical style. Similar to the Italian focus on classical ideas in the 15th and 16th centuries, this style spread across Europe in the mid- to late-17th century.

Later classical styles in painting and sculpture from the mid-18th and 19th centuries are generally called Neoclassicism.

Political philosophy

Classical political philosophy began in ancient Greece. Western political philosophy is often linked to the Greek philosopher Plato. Political ideas from this time started with Plato, but they became more complex when his student, Aristotle, developed his own theories. The political ideas of both philosophers are closely connected to their beliefs about right and wrong, and they focused on questions about types of government and how societies are organized.

Plato and Aristotle were not the first to think about these ideas. Before them, many people had discussed politics for centuries. For example, Herodotus described a debate between Theseus, a king, and a messenger from Creon. This debate showed different views about democracy, monarchy, and oligarchy, and how people felt about these forms of government. Herodotus' account is one example of the earlier discussions that influenced Plato and Aristotle.

Another important Greek thinker was Socrates. He did not create formal theories, but he used questions that made people think about their beliefs. Socrates believed that the same values that guide how individuals live should also shape how a community is governed. He thought the people of Athens focused too much on wealth and power instead of working on projects that helped their city.

Like Plato and Aristotle, Socrates was not the first to have these ideas. His beliefs were influenced by earlier thinkers like Protagoras and other "sophists," who were teachers who taught about politics. These teachers and Socrates shared similar goals, but they practiced their ideas differently. Protagoras was popular in Athens, while Socrates challenged people and was not as well-liked.

In the end, ancient Greece is credited with starting Classical political philosophy.