Historical sources for Craig White's Literature courses

Craig White's Literature Courses

Historical Backgrounds

Neo-Classical or Enlightenment Architecture (period and style)

a.k.a. "Greek Revival"

(compare Baroque & Romantic architecture)

digital recreation of original Parthenon, 5c Greece

As with many values and practices of the Enlightenment, architecture of the late 1600s, 1700s and beyond imitated models from classical Greece and Rome--therefor the descriptive terms "Neo-Classical" and "Greek Revival," with many variations.

The rigorous simplicity of this architectural movement reacted against overly decorative-to-decadent features of Baroque and Rococo architecture but also extended some classicizing qualities of the Baroque such as symmetry, balance, or counterpoint.

In general, though, Neo-Classical architecture differs from Baroque by its comparative starkness, diminished interplay of light and shadow, and isolation of individual features or ornaments in frames or corners.

Neo-Classical architecture often has a heavier feel than the ascending lightness of the Baroque, giving it a sense of gravity or power.

Neo-Classical architecture associated with early United States and France after its Revolution, both of which saw classical architecture as embodying the spirit of Athenian democracy and the Roman republic.

Classical Greek & Roman Architecture