Развитие межпредметных связей: изучение английского языка и мировой художественной культуры в 10–11-х классах

Curriculum Links of the Language Studies with Other Subjects

The presented materials aim to develop the students’ knowledge of English and Art offering a broader educational approach to teaching the language.

Theme 13

ROCOCO

The Rococo style of art emerged in France in the early 18th century as a continuation of the Baroque style, but in contrast to the heavier themes and darker colors of the Baroque, the Rococo was characterized by grace, playfulness, and lightness. Rococo motifs focused on the carefree aristocratic life and on lighthearted romance rather than heroic battles or religious figures; they also revolve heavily around nature and exterior settings. In the mid-late 18th century, Rococo was surpassed by the Neoclassic style.

The word Rococo was apparently a combination of the French rocaille, or shell, and the Italian barocco, or Baroque style.

Rococo developed first in the decorative arts and interior design. Louis XV’s succession brought a change in the court artists and general artistic fashion. By the end of the old king’s reign, rich Baroque designs were giving way to lighter elements with more curves and natural patterns. During the Regency, court life moved away from Versailles and this artistic change became well established, first in the royal palace and then throughout French high society.

Le Dejeuner (Завтрак) by Francois Boucher, demonstrates elements of Rococo. (1739, Louvre)

The 1730s represented the height of Rococo development in France. The style had spread beyond architecture and furniture to painting and sculpture, exemplified by the works of Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher. Rococo still maintained the Baroque taste for complex forms and intricate patterns. By this point, it had begun to integrate a variety of diverse characteristics, including a taste for Oriental designs and asymmetric compositions.

The Rococo style spread with French artists. It was readily received in the Catholic parts of Germany, Bohemia, and Austria, where it was merged with the lively German Baroque traditions. Particularly in the south, German Rococo was applied with enthusiasm to churches and palaces. Architects often draped their interiors in clouds of fluffy white stucco (напоминающая облака пышная белая лепнина). In Italy, the late Baroque styles of Borromini and Guarini set the tone for Rococo in Turin, Venice, Naples and Sicily, while the arts in Tuscany and Rome remained more linked to Baroque.

Rococo in England was always thought of as the “French taste”. Thomas Chippendale transformed English furniture design through his adaptation of the style. William Hogarth helped develop a theoretical foundation for Rococo beauty. He argued in his Analysis of Beauty (1753) that the undulating lines (волнистые линии) and S-curves prominent in Rococo were the basis for grace and beauty in art or nature (unlike the straight line or the circle in Classicism).

The beginning of the end for Rococo came in the early 1760s as figures like Voltaire and Jacques-Francois Blondel began to voice their criticism of the superficiality (поверхностность) and degeneracy (дегенеративность) of the art. Blondel decried (хулил) the “ridiculous jumble (беспорядочное нагромождение) of shells, dragons and plants” in contemporary interiors. By 1780, Rococo had passed out of fashion in France, replaced by the order and seriousness of Neoclassical artists like Jacques Louis David. It remained popular in the provinces and in Italy, until the second phase of neoclassicism, “Empire style,” arrived with Napoleonic governments and swept Rococo away.

Rococo style took pleasure in asymmetry, a taste that was new to European style. This practice of leaving elements unbalanced for effect is called contraste. Rococo taste enjoyed the exotic character of Chinese arts, and imitated them in objects produced in France.

In a full-blown Rococo design, like the Table d’appartement (ca. 1730), by German designer J. A. Meissonnier, working in Paris (illustration, below). The marble slab top (мраморная столешница) is shaped. Apron, legs, stretcher have all been integrated into a flow of opposed c-scrolls (завитки) and “rocaille.” The knot of the stretcher shows the asymmetrical “contraste” that was a Rococo innovation.

Design for a table by Juste-Aurele Meissonnier, Paris

French designers like Francois Cuvillies and Nicholas Pineau exported Parisian styles to Munich and Saint Petersburg, while the German Juste-Aurele Meissonier found his career in Paris. The guiding spirits of the Parisian Rococo were a small group of marchands-merciers (торговцы, галантерейщики), the forerunners of modern decorators, led by Simon-Philippenis Poirier.

In France the ornaments were mostly of wood, less naturalistic and less exuberant in the mixture of natural with artificial forms of all kinds (e.g. plant motifs, grotesques, masks, implements of various professions, badges, paintings, precious stones).

English Rococo tended to be more restrained (более сдержанным).The most successful exponent of English Rococo was probably Thomas Johnson, a gifted carver (резчик) and furniture designer working in London in the mid 1700s.

Solitude Palace in Stuttgart and Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum, the Bavarian church of Wies and Sanssouci in Potsdam are examples of how Rococo made its way into European architecture.

Inaugurated in some rooms of Versailles (утвердившись в нескольких залах Версаля), Rococo unfolds its magnificence (раскрывает все свое великолепие) in several Parisian buildings (especially the Hotel Soubise).

Though Rococo originated in the purely decorative arts, the style was expressed clearly in painting. These painters used delicate colors and curving forms, decorating their canvases with cherubs and myths of love. Portraiture was also popular among Rococo painters. Landscapes were pastoral and often depicted the leisurely outings of aristocratic couples.

Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721) is generally considered the first great Rococo painter. He had a great influence on later painters, including Francois Boucher (1703–1770) and Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732–1806), two masters of the late period. Even Thomas Gainsborough’s (1727–1788) delicate touch and sensitivity are reflective of the Rococo spirit.

Falconet’s awesome statue of Peter I has become one of the symbols of St. Petersburg

Sculpture was another area that Rococo artists branched into. Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791) is widely considered one of the best representatives of French Rococo. In general, this style was best expressed through delicate porcelain sculpture rather than imposing marble statues. Falconet himself was director of a famous porcelain factory at Sevres. The themes of love and gaiety were reflected in sculpture, as were elements of nature, curving lines and asymmetry.

The Galante Style was the equivalent of Rococo in music history, too, between Baroque and Classical, and it is not easy to define in words. The Rococo musical style itself developed out of baroque music, particular in France. It can be characterized as intimate music with extremely refined decoration forms. Exemplars include Jean Philippe Rameau and Louis-Claude Daquin.

Boucher’s painting provides a glimpse of the society which Rococo reflected. The stylish interior, the curious and delightful details everywhere one turns one’s eye, the luxury of sipping chocolate: all are “galante.”

I. USEFUL VOCABULARY

Regency (эпоха Регентства) – The era of the French Regency (1715–1723) covers the minority of Louis XV, when France was governed by the regent, the child-king’s uncle, Philippe d’Orleans.

The Regency marks the temporary eclipse of Versailles as center of policymaking, since the Regent’s court was at the Palais Royal in Paris. It marks the rise of Parisian salons as cultural centers, as literary meeting places and centres of discreet liberal resistance to some official policies. In the Paris salons aristocrats mingled more easily with the haute-bourgeoisie in a new atmosphere of relaxed decorum, comfort and intimacy.

The Chateau de Versailles (Версальский дворец) – or simply Versailles – is a royal chateau, outside the gates of which the village of Versailles has grown to become a city. From 1682, when King Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, the court of Versailles was the center of power under the Ancien Regime.

Bronze Horseman (Медный всадник) – a famous statue commissioned by Catherine the Great, which stands in St. Petersburg on the bank of the Neva, and had the boulder upon which it stands imported from several leagues away. Catherine ordered an inscribed Latin phrase “Petro Primo Catharina Secunda MDCCLXXXII” meaning “Catherine the Second to Peter the First, 1782” in order to lend herself legitimacy by connecting herself with the “Founder of Modern Russia.” This statue later inspired Pushkin’s famous poem.

Oriental designs (восточные мотивы) – Chinese or Japanese themes in decoration in Western Europe, beginning in the late 17th century and peaking in waves, especially Rococo Chinoiserie, ca 1740–1770.

Porcelain (фарфор) is a hard ceramic substance made by heating (at a high temperature) selected and refined materials often including clay in the form of kaolinite. Porcelain clay when mixed with water forms a plastic paste which can be worked to a required shape or form that is hardened and made permanent by firing in a kiln at temperatures of between about 1200 degrees Celsius and about 1400 degrees Celsius.

An equestrian sculpture (конная статуя) (from the Latin “equus” meaning horse) is a statue of a mounted rider. Such statues frequently commemorated military leaders, and those statesmen who wished to symbolically emphasize the active leadership role undertaken since Roman times by the equestrian class, the equites or knights (всадники или рыцари).

Turqoise (бирюза, бирюзовый цвет) is a mineral of sky-blue or greenish-blue color.

Activity A. Match the words with their definitions.

WORD

DEFINITION

1. Regent (регент) 2. To eclipse (затмевать) 3. Liberal (либеральный) 4. Bourgeoisie (буржуазия) 5. Intimacy (интимность) 6. Regime (режим) 7. League (лига) 8. Legitimacy (легитимность) 9. Decoration (украшение) 10. Refined (очищенный, рафинированный) 11. Permanent (постоянный) 12. To commemorate (увековечить)

A. cultivated, freed from impurities. B. to serve as a memorial. C. anyone who acts as head of state, especially if not the monarch; an acting deputy governor. D. unit of distance of about 5 kilometres. E. adornment, embellishment. F. middle-class. G. form of management or government. H. a close association, familiarity. I. a state of being according to law. J. stable, continuing without change. K. broad-minded, tolerant, not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition. L. to obscure, darken, surpass.

Key: 1. C; 2. L; 3. K; 4. F; 5. H; 6. G; 7. D; 8. I; 9. E; 10. A; 11. J; 12. B

II. READING

Activity B. Fill in the missing words from the list below. One word is extra.

The Bronze Horseman

The Bronze Horseman is an impressive monument to the (1)___________ of St. Petersburg, Peter the Great, on Senatskaia Ploshchad’ (the former Decembrists Square). It (2)__________ the Neva River and is surrounded by the Admiralty, St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the buildings of the (3)__________ Senate and Synod – the civil and
(4)_________ governing bodies of pre-revolutionary Russia. The monument was a (5)__________ by Catherine the Great to her famous (6)__________ on the Russian throne. The (7)____________ statue of Peter the Great, created by the famous French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet, depicts the most prominent (8)___________ of Russia as a Roman hero. The pedestal is made of a single piece of red granite in the
(9)_____________ of a cliff. From the top of this “cliff” Peter shows the way for Russia, while his horse steps on a snake, which represents the (10)_________ of Peter and his reforms. Ironically, the “evil” snake serves as a third point of (11)_____________for the statue.

former, reformer, shape, tribute, religious, faces, enemies, equestrian, imported, founder, support, predecessor

Key: 1. founder; 2. faces; 3. former; 4. religious; 5. tribute; 6. predecessor; 7. equestrian; 8. reformer; 9. shape; 10. enemies; 11. support; extra word – imported

Activity C. Read the text about Sevres porcelain. Choose from the list A–H the sentence which best summarises each paragraph (1–7). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

SENTENCES:
A. The decoration of Sevres porcelain has developed according to a certain style with original colors.
B. The factory changes its location and name.
C. One of the greatest art patrons became a customer and the shareholder of the factory.
D. There are several places where you can find Sevres porcelain today because the production has been continued.
E. Madame de Pompadour lives at the Chateau de Bellevue.
F. The first Sevres items were not produced in Sevres and included mostly figures, not tableware.
G. The French government is the present owner of the factory.
H. The King became the principal client and salesperson at the same time.

1. Sevres porcelain is widely known to be both the French porcelain of royalty and the royal porcelain of France. The first Sevres items, known as Vincennes, were begun in 1738 at the Chateau de Vincennes southeast of Paris. Former workmen from the Chantilly ceramics works started the factory. In the early days, the Vincennes Sevres factory produced mostly painted and gilded figures and ornamental flowers.

Large Sevres Cachepot, 1757 (кашпо)

2. King Louis XV, known as the most notable art patron in modern history, became the major customer and joined as a shareholder of the factory in 1745.

He conducted annual sales from his palace grounds at Versailles, encouraged his court and other royalty to buy his product, and even restricted other porcelain factories from using gilding or colored grounds on their porcelains.

3. When the operation ran into financial troubles in 1759, King Louis XV acquired the factory as royal property. The king took over the manufacturing operations, and considered himself the principal client and salesperson of these extraordinary porcelain creations.

Pair Small Sevres Cachepots. Early 19th century, front view

4. The factory was moved to the village of Sevres southwest of Paris; a location near to the palace of Versailles and close to the home of Madame de Pompadour at the Chateau de Bellevue. From that time the porcelain became officially known as Sevres porcelain.

5. Over the years, Sevres recruited the finest talents and artists. The factory developed a unique Rococo style, a romanticist theme, of lavishly decorated dishes, form pieces and decorative items. The exceptional glazes (глазурь) and deep background colors included royal blue (bleu de roi), turquoise (bleu celeste), pea green, and pink (rose Pompadour – so named for the king’s famous mistress). Decoration was floral and figural within white panels; these set in deeply glazed colors, and then complemented with gilded handles and edges. The king and his nobility acquired exceptional collections including dinner services, monumental vases and urns (вазы), and centerpieces (орнаментальные вазы для середины стола). The shapes and the decor on the pieces expressed the whimsy and elegant pleasures of the lifestyles of the Ancien Regime, a royal society.

6. After the monarchy ended, the factory became the property of the French government, and remains so today.

7. Superb porcelain production continued at Sevres through the 19th century and into the 20th–21st centuries. Dazzling collections of the finest porcelains now quietly reside in museums, castles, and elegant homes.

Key: 1. F; 2. C; 3. H; 4. B; 5. A; 6. G; 7. D; extra – E

GRAMMAR

NOTE!
both...and... как … так и … (как один, так и другой)
both...and... takes plural verb.
E.g. Both my father and my brother are in the country.

neither...nor... ни…, ни…(ни один, ни другой)
either...or... либо…, либо…(либо один, либо другой)
not only...but also... не только…, но и… (не только один, но и другой)
neither...nor.../either...or..., not only...but also... take either a singular or plural verb depending on the subject which follows nor, or, but also
E.g. Neither Mary nor Kate is coming to the party. Neither John nor his parents are going to the country. Either David or Nick has lost this key. Not only my neighbour’s children but my own son has lied to me.

neither of... ни один из…
either of... один из…
neither of/either of take a verb either in the singular or plural.
E.g. Neither of us is/are happy. Neither of them has/have come to the party. Neither of the factories produces/produce porcelain. Either of the animals is/are dangerous. Either of you has/have enough time.

both оба, обе
Both refers to two people or things. It has a positive meaning and takes a verb in the plural.
E. g. Both Meissen and Sevres produce porcelain.

Activity D. Choose the correct item.
1. Either of these dinner services (is, are) from Sevres.
2. Neither red nor black (is, are) used for the background color.
3. Both Peter and Catherine (was, were) powerful.
4. Not only the Admiralty but also St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the building of the former Senate-Synod (surrounds, surround) the Bronze Horseman.
5. Either the dinner service or these two vases (is, are) produced in Sevres.
6. Neither of the colors (is, are) good to decorate dishes.
7. Both monuments (commemorates, commemorate) military leaders.
8. Neither baroque nor rococo (is, are) traced in this style.
9. Either royal blue or torquoise (produces, produce) a deep background color.
10. Both Vincennes and Sevres (is, are) near Paris.
11. Not only Blondel but also Voltaire (is, are) known to decry Rococo for its rediculousness.
12. Either of the painters (is, are) gifted.

Key: 1. is/are; 2. is; 3. were; 4. surround; 5. are; 6. is/are; 7. commemorate; 8. is; 9. produces; 10. are; 11. is; 12. is/are