Analysis of Gustave Courbet’s “The Burial at Ornans”
The Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet
FP: Formal Properties
- Name: The Burial at Ornans
- Author: Gustave Courbet
- Date: 1849-1850
- Style: Realism
- Original Location: Salon of 1850
- Current Location: Musée d’Orsay, Paris
- Related to the Whole: The flowerbeds and the workshop of the painter
D: Descriptive
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Size: Large
- Figurative
- Brief Description: The painting depicts a funeral in the artist’s hometown, Ornans, capturing the moment of farewell to the deceased.
AF: Formal Analysis
- Drawing/Color: Color dominates over line.
- Colors: Limited color range, predominantly black, broken by the red of the clerics and the white of the boys.
- Light: Realistic light, suggesting dawn.
- Brushwork: Loose and impasto.
- Composition Axis: Symmetry, order, and horizontals.
- Lines Composed: Geometric composition (rectangular), centered on the action taking place at the opening in the line of cliffs.
- Pictorial Center: Corresponds to the center of the canvas, where the body is being buried.
- Perspective: Achieved through aerial perspective, chiaroscuro, and the placement of figures on different planes.
- Planes: Characters are arranged on different planes, with the dog, family, and gravedigger in the foreground, other mourners in the background, and the cliffs in the third level.
- Anatomy and Proportions: Realistic, with no emphasis on anatomical detail.
- Costumes: Mourning clothes, predominantly black.
- Expression: Faces of grief, people weeping, a man wiping tears with a handkerchief, the priest also showing sorrow.
- Movement: Static, hieratic.
- Time: Referential, depicting a funeral with utmost naturalism.
Realism and Detail
- Detailed depiction of the clothing of those present.
- Few elements are highlighted, such as the child (possibly holding a holy water vessel) and the gestures of some characters.
IMCI: Contextual Information
Relation to the Artist’s Other Works
- The Studio and The Painter’s Studio (both depict everyday events).
Relation to the Era or Other Works
- The Burial of the Count of Orgaz by El Greco (same theme).
- The Angelus by Millet and The Gleaners (depict everyday events).
Characteristics of the Style (Realism)
- Focus on everyday life.
- Rejection of idealized or romanticized subjects.
- Emphasis on objective observation and representation.
Innovations
- First artist to represent the funeral of an unknown person, a very real and relatable event.
Influences
- Dutch masters (Hals and Rembrandt).
- Venetian and Spanish masters (Veronese, Murillo, and Velázquez).
- Painters like Millet and Rousseau.
CII: Content and Interpretation
Genre
- Everyday life.
Iconographic Significance
- The artist captured an everyday event, a farmer’s funeral, with no inherent importance for traditional painters.
- The setting is the artist’s hometown, and the models are family, friends, and neighbors.
- The artist’s three sisters are depicted on the right side of the painting.
Iconological Significance
- The presence of the dog in the foreground, close to the grave, is significant. It symbolizes the low status of the deceased.
- The characters are placed without any hierarchy.
FIF: Function and Impact
Purpose
- Aesthetic, presenting a social event with maximum realism.
- Commentary and denunciation (negative propaganda).
Relation to the Time
- Time of philosophical positivism, the rise of photography, and the dissemination of the press.
- Reality becomes the center of concern.
- The artist was committed to political life.
Contributions
- Influenced later painters like Monet and Picasso.
Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix
FP: Formal Properties
- Name: Liberty Leading the People
- Author: Eugène Delacroix
- Clients: Louis Philippe
- Date: 1830
- Style: French Romanticism
- Original Location: Salon of 1831, Paris
- Current Location: Louvre Museum, Paris
- Related to the Whole: Initially exhibited at the Salon in Paris and is currently displayed with the rest of the museum’s collection.
D: Descriptive
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Support: Canvas
- Size: Large dimensions
- Figurative
- Short Description: Depicts the popular uprising that took place in Paris in 1830, with Liberty personified as a semi-nude woman.
AF: Formal Analysis
- Drawing/Color: Predominance of drawing over color.
- Colors: Repetition of the French flag colors (red, white, and blue), with emphasis on shades of blue, red ochre, and gray.
- Light: Violent and unreal light, with two focal points, side lighting illuminating figures in the background.
- Brushwork: Loose, pasty, and confident.
- Composition Axis: Asymmetry, disorder, and verticality.
- Composition Lines: Pyramidal composition, figures ascending within a pyramid, culminating in the French flag at the apex.
- Pictorial Center: Corresponds to the center of the canvas, where Liberty stands.
- Perspective: Aerial perspective, with dark areas in the background creating a sense of depth.
- Planes: Liberty and the people surrounding her are in the foreground, while the multitude and the towers of Notre Dame are in the background.
- Anatomy and Proportions: Close to natural, with marked anatomy.
- Clothing: Diverse clothing, including the Phrygian cap (a revolutionary symbol), peasant attire, and bourgeois dress.
- Expression: Gestures of passion and fury, characteristic of war.
- Movement: Scene full of tension and movement, most figures moving towards the viewer.
- Time: Short, capturing a specific moment.
Realism and Detail
- Great expression and detail in the faces and costumes of the characters.
- Secondary elements, such as the towers of Notre Dame in the background, are also highlighted.
IMCI: Contextual Information
Relation to the Artist’s Other Works
- The Barque of Dante and The Massacre at Chios (depict similar themes of revolution and struggle, but in Greece).
- Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi (also addresses the theme of revolution).
Relation to Other Works of the Era or Style
- The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault (shares the Romantic emphasis on drama and emotion).
- The Monk by the Sea by Caspar David Friedrich (reflects the Romantic fascination with nature and the sublime).
Characteristics of the Style (Romanticism)
- Emphasis on emotion, imagination, and individualism.
- Fascination with history, mythology, and the exotic.
- Rejection of Enlightenment rationalism and neoclassical restraint.
Innovations
- First modern political composition, capturing the spirit of revolution.
Influences
- Michelangelo (color).
- Rubens (vitality and profuse decoration).
- Venetian School (color and composition).
CII: Content and Interpretation
Genre
- Historical.
Iconographic Significance
- Depicts the July Revolution of 1830 in Paris, which led to the overthrow of King Charles X and the coronation of Louis Philippe, representing a shift towards a more liberal monarchy.
- The semi-nude woman represents Liberty, while the Phrygian cap symbolizes revolution.
Iconological Significance
- Refers to the decisive events of July 28, 1830, when the fighting reached its peak.
FIF: Function and Impact
Purpose
- Propaganda, supporting the July Revolution.
- Over time, it has acquired a commemorative significance.
Relation to the Time (Historical Context of Romanticism)
- Period of political upheaval and social change.
- Rise of nationalism and liberalism.
- Growing interest in individual rights and freedoms.
Contributions
: influenced later painters such as Renoir, Seurat, Van Gogh and Cezanne.