|
|
|
For
Charles LeBrun
art had more meaning than impulsive brush-strokes on a
canvas. He was of the opinion that it was smomewhat foolish
to copy a landscape onto canvas since this did not require
the slightest intellectual effort. '' LeBrun
believed that painting was a serious and fundamentally
literary discipline, a liberal art whose rightful place was
next to poetry, theatre and rhetoric''. LeBrun based his
theory of painting on multiple principles that were meant to guarantee
their accuracy and to render the message, the emotions and
the expressions thus defined immediately recognizable. |
|
One of the
most important step in producing a painting consisted in
breathing life into his figures, not just semblance of life
but a veritable soul. He adresses the subject in one of his
lectures to the Academy of Painting: '' ordinarily all that provokes
passions in the soul has some effect on the body...''
Then, he clearly defined the characteristics of each
passions. |
The Passions
 |
|
He also
established a correlation between the human face and that of
the animal whose spirit characterizes a particular emotion. |
Physiognomy
 |
|
He also
devoted much time to the study of symbols, protocol and
customs, which enabled him to add subtle elements to the
carefully conceived narration of his composition. |
Interplay of symbols
 |
|
