classicism

Classicism is a broad artistic and literary movement that seeks to emulate the perceived ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. It emphasizes order, clarity, balance, restraint, and universality, often prioritizing reason over emotion and novelty over whimsy. In art, literature, architecture, and music, classical forms are valued for their proportion, moral seriousness, and fidelity to traditional models.

Historically, classicism has roots in antiquity and was vigorously revived during the Renaissance and again in later periods. Early adopters looked to classical models for rules of composition, decorum, and ideal form. The 17th and 18th centuries saw a formal Neoclassicism, especially in France and Britain, as a conscious program to restore noble simplicity and timeless order in the arts, in reaction to Baroque and Rococo extravagance. Key influences include the French writers Nicolas Boileau and the dramatists Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine, the painters Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain (and later Jacques-Louis David), and the art-historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, whose writings helped define the classical ideal.

In music, the Classical period (roughly 1730–1820) stressed balanced phrase structure, formal clarity, and expressive restraint, with composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and early Ludwig van Beethoven exemplifying the style.

The legacy of classicism persists in public monuments, institutional architecture, formal education, and in literary and visual arts that seek durable, universally comprehensible forms. It remains a reference point for discussions of taste and artistic standard, often contrasted with Romanticism’s emphasis on individual emotion and imagination.