Editing Neoclassicism (section)

====Empire style (1804–1815) ====
{{Main|Empire style}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px">
Coffeepot MET DP103166.jpg|Coffeepot; 1797–1809; silver gilt; height: 33.3&nbsp;cm; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York City

Château de Malmaison, France (48029730202).jpg|[[Empress Joséphine]]'s Bedroom in [[Château de Malmaison]], Rueil-Malmaison, France, by [[Charles Percier]] and [[Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine]], 1800-1802{{sfn|Jones|2014|p=275}}

Washstand (athénienne or lavabo) MET DP106594.jpg|Washstand (athénienne or lavabo); 1800–1814; legs, base and shelf of yew wood, [[ormolu|gilt-bronze]] mounts, iron plate beneath shelf; height: 92.4&nbsp;cm, width: 49.5&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Palais Bourbon, Paris 7e, NW View 140402 1.jpg|Portico of the [[Palais Bourbon]], Paris, by [[Bernard Poyet]], 1806-1808{{sfn|Hopkins|2014|p=111}}

Madeleine Paris.jpg|[[La Madeleine, Paris]], by [[Pierre-Alexandre Vignon]], 1807-1842{{sfn|Hopkins|2014|p=111}}

Pair of green vases, painted by Jean Georget, mounts by Pierre-Philippe Thomire, 1 of 2, Sèvres porcelain, 1809, soft-paste porcelain - Wadsworth Atheneum - Hartford, CT - DSC05493.jpg|Vase; 1809; hard-paste porcelain and gilded bronze handles; height: 74.9&nbsp;cm, diameter: 35.6&nbsp;cm; [[Wadsworth Atheneum]], Hartford, Connecticut, US<ref>{{cite book|last1=Odile|first1=Nouvel-Kammerer|title=Symbols of Power • Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style • 1800-1815|date=2007|isbn=978-0-8109-9345-7|page=209|publisher=Abrams |language=en}}</ref>

Coin cabinet MET DP103176.jpg|Egyptian Revival coin cabinet; by [[François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter]]; 1809–1819; [[mahogany]] (probably [[Swietenia mahagoni]]), with applied and inlaid silver; 90.2 x 50.2 x 37.5&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Clock Thomire Louvre OA9511.jpg|Clock with [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] and [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]; {{circa|1810}}; gilded bronze and patina; height: 90&nbsp;cm; Louvre

Austria-03324 - Cradle of Napoleon's Son (32936041295).jpg|King of Rome's Cradle; by [[Pierre-Paul Prud'hon]], [[Henri Victor Roguier]], [[Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot]] and [[Pierre-Philippe Thomire]]; 1811; wood, silver gilt, [[mother-of-pearl]], sheets of copper covered with velvet, silk and tulle, decorated with silver and gold thread; height: 216&nbsp;cm; [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]], Vienna, Austria<ref>{{cite book|last1=Odile|first1=Nouvel-Kammerer|title=Symbols of Power • Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style • 1800-1815|date=2007|isbn=978-0-8109-9345-7|page=32|publisher=Abrams |language=en}}</ref>

Carpet MET DP360538.jpg|Carpet; 1814–1830; 309.9 × 246.4&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
</gallery>

Neoclassicism was representative for the new French society that exited the [[French Revolution|revolution]], setting the tone in all life fields, including art. The [[Jacquard machine]] was invented during this period (which revolutionised the entire sewing system, manual until then). One of the dominant colours was red, decorated with [[ormolu|gilt bronze]]. Bright colours were also used, including white, cream, violet, brown, blue, dark red, with little ornaments of gilt bronze. Interior architecture included wood panels decorated with gilt [[relief]]s (on a white background or a coloured one). Motifs were placed geometrically. The walls were covered in [[stucco]]s, wallpaper fabrics. [[Fireplace mantel]]s were made of white marble, having [[caryatid]]s at their corners, or other elements: [[obelisk]]s, [[sphinx]]es, winged lions, and so on. Bronze objects were placed on their tops, including [[French Empire mantel clock|mantel clocks]]. The doors consisted of simple rectangular panels, decorated with a Pompeian-inspired central figure. Empire fabrics are damasks with a blue or brown background, satins with a green, pink or purple background, velvets of the same colors, brooches broached with gold or silver, and cotton fabrics. All of these were used in interiors for curtains, for covering certain furniture, for cushions or upholstery (leather was also used for upholstery).<ref>{{cite book |last1= Graur|first1=Neaga|title=Stiluri în arta decorativă|date=1970|publisher=Cerces|pages=217, 219, 220 & 221|language=ro}}</ref>

All Empire ornament is governed by a rigorous spirit of symmetry reminiscent of the [[Louis XIV style]]. Generally, the motifs on a piece's right and left sides correspond to one another in every detail; when they do not, the individual motifs themselves are entirely [[symmetrical]] in composition: antique heads with identical tresses falling onto each shoulder, frontal figures of Victory with symmetrically arrayed tunics, identical rosettes or swans flanking a lock plate, etc. Like [[Louis XIV]], [[Napoleon]] had a set of emblems unmistakably associated with his rule, most notably the eagle, the bee, stars, and the initials [[I]] (for ''Imperator'') and [[N]] (for ''Napoleon''), which were usually inscribed within an imperial laurel crown. Motifs used include: figures of [[Nike (mythology)|Victory]] bearing palm branches, Greek dancers, nude and draped women, figures of antique chariots, winged [[putto|putti]], [[mascaron (architecture)|mascarons]] of [[Apollo]], [[Hermes]] and the [[Gorgon]], swans, lions, the heads of oxen, horses and wild beasts, butterflies, claws, winged [[Chimera (mythology)|chimeras]], [[sphinx]]es, [[Bucranium|bucrania]], sea horses, oak wreaths knotted by thin trailing ribbons, climbing grape vines, poppy [[rinceaux]], [[rosette (design)|rosettes]], palm branches, and laurel. There's a lot of Greco-Roman ones: stiff and flat [[acanthus (ornament)|acanthus]] leaves, [[palmette]]s, [[cornucopia]]s, beads, [[amphora]]s, tripods, imbricated disks, [[caduceus]]es of [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]], vases, helmets, burning torches, winged trumpet players, and ancient musical instruments (tubas, rattles and especially [[lyre]]s). Despite their antique derivation, the [[fluting (architecture)|fluting]] and [[triglyph]]s so prevalent under Louis XVI are abandoned. [[Egyptian Revival decorative arts|Egyptian Revival]] motifs are especially common at the beginning of the period: [[Scarab (artifact)|scarabs]], lotus [[capital (architecture)|capitals]], winged disks, obelisks, [[pyramid]]s, figures wearing [[nemes]]es, [[caryatid]]s ''en gaine'' supported by bare feet and with women Egyptian headdresses.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sylvie|first1=Chadenet|title=French Furniture • From Louis XIII to Art Deco|date=2001|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|page=103 & 105|language=en}}</ref>