History Creator / AlexandreCabanel

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment Academic Art is UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment's artistic offspring. Its main characteristics are idealism (portraying reality at the high end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty and through muted emotions), StrictlyFormula, and favoring allegorical {{art}}works (i.e., with religious, mythological, or historical themes). Notable exponents of this movement include Cabanel. The only time when Cabanel rebelled against the Movement's conventions was during his formative years. Then, his art pieces where more open in the display of emotions and were deemed "too Romantic" by his art judges.

* CreatorsOddbal: During his formative years, Cabanel won two important art awards of the time that were indicative of his preference for BiblicalMotifs. The Prix of Rome with his "Jesus in the Pretorium" and getting his "Christ in the Garden of Olives" admitted to the Salon of Paris. Some art historians speculate that he was playing it safe, what with making his characters' expressions as neutral as possible. However, a young Cabanel yearned to suffuse more emotion into his artworks, so he switched gears to MythicalMotifs and produced his "Orestes", a nude painting of the son of Agamemnon reaching his hand out. He soon returned to Christian themes with his (still very expressive) "Art/TheFallenAngel" and, after a while, to apathetic, idealized paintings. It wasn't until some years later that he returned to Greek mythology and charmed the aristocrats with his Art Pompier frescos.

* ChristianFiction: Something of an EnforcedTrope because the Salon of Paris regarded artworks inspired by the Christian canon to be the most preferable subjects, above mythological and historical ones. As such, Cabanel's paintings during his early years were heavily dominated by religious pieces -- e.g., ''Art/TheDeathOfMoses'' (1851) and ''Art/TheFallenAngel''. Afterward, he took a liking to depict scenes from Myth/ClassicalMythology and got commissioned by influential people to paint them in huge, allegorical murals. Even then, he continued to produce Christian pieces such as ''Art/TheExpulsionOfAdamAndEveFromTheGardenOfParadise'' (1867) and ''Art/TheDaughterOfJephthah'' (1879).

* GenreAdultery: During his formative years, Cabanel won two important art awards of the time that were indicative of his preference for BiblicalMotifs. The Prix of Rome with his "Jesus in the Pretorium" and getting his "Christ in the Garden of Olives" admitted to the Salon of Paris. Some art historians speculate that he was playing it safe, what with making his characters' expressions as neutral as possible. However, a young Cabanel yearned to suffuse more emotion into his artworks, so he switched gears to MythicalMotifs and produced his "Orestes", a nude painting of the son of Agamemnon reaching his hand out. He soon returned to Christian themes with his (still very expressive) "Art/TheFallenAngel" and, after a while, to apathetic, idealized paintings. It wasn't until some years later that he returned to Greek mythology and charmed the aristocrats with his Art Pompier frescos.

* DoingItForTheArt: Cabanel's inspiration to paint "The Fallen Angel" was born from his desire to have his characters emote accordingly to the scene they were painted in and submit an outstanding piece of art. For example, his "Christ in the Garden of Olives" doesn't look as if he's agonizing over the ill fate that awaits him. By contrast, his Lucifer's countenance exquisitely displays turmoil. He comments this to his patron and friend in a letter. So, it's a rare case of putting art not above money but above the time's artistic conventions.

** The only time where he rebelled against this was during his formative years -- when he painted ''Art/TheFallenAngel'' as a student, his technique was not yet the absolute perfection the Academy demanded and his imprinting of emotions was deemed more appropriate for {{Romanticism}} than for Academicism (aka, UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment). Mind you, the idealization of emotions meant some degree of dispassion.

See also Creator/WilliamAdolpheBouguereau, another Academist painter.

* DeityFiction: Several of his works feature deities as major characters, either from Myth/ClasicalMythology and UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}. For example, the LoveGoddess Venus is the subject of his "Art/{{The Birth of Venus|Cabanel}}". He also produced some PassionPlay pieces, such as "Christ in the Garden of Olives" and "Jesus in the Pretorium".