b517th

Theme: Intellectual and cultural developments and their relationship to social values and political events: French Classicism- 1616

One of the strongest cultural developments of the 17th century was French Classicism. The major idealism of French classicism was classical antiquity and was characterized by Renaissance Italy. Nicholas Poussin was one of the greatest classical painters and effectively demonstrated classicism in his painting, showing the new culture society took on. Classicism was heavily restricted by various rules and had to be very precise and formal, much like the standard culture during the time of Louis XIV. The result of Classicism on social values was that it made society more rigid and controlled due to the type of guidelines in reinforced. Furthermore, it also influenced political events since it gave Louis XIV a chance to remove his focus on political matters in the court.

   Mckay, John P., Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler. __A History of Western society__. 7th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.