The Paragone in Nineteenth-century Art

Offering an examination of the paragone, meaning artistic rivalry, in nineteenth-century France and England, this book considers how artists were impacted by prevailing aesthetic theories, or institutional and cultural paradigms, to compete in the art world. The paragone has been considered primarily in the context of Renaissance art history, but in this book readers will see how the legacy of this humanistic competitive model survived into the late nineteenth century. Concentrating on artists such as Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, Gustave Moreau, Jean-Leon Gerome, Edward Burne-Jones, and Aubrey Beardsley, who were drawn to subjects that connoted rivalry, and to techniques that demonstrated artistic virtue, the book explores their individual tactics in staking a claim to artistic supremacy in painting, sculpture, and works on paper. Typically such artists were motivated to participate in the paragone debate during crises, changes to the hierarchy of the arts, shifting aesthetic theories, cultural and social changes to the artist’s status, or political activism and patriotic endeavours. Lastly, this study will touch upon why competition was still a relevant artistic concern in the Modern era.