French school of ca. 1840. "Historicist scene". Oil... Lot 26

French school of ca. 1840. "Historicist scene". Oil on canvas. With illegible inscription on the back. It conserves frame of the 19th century with faults. Measurements: 117 x 90 cm; 137 x 110 cm (frame). Historicist scene in which three characters are represented dressed in the medieval way. The work that recreates an open wooded landscape and conceived in depth is thematically inspired in the chivalrous literature, as it can be appreciated not only by the clothes already mentioned but also by the presence of weapons of the time. It is worth noting that literature dedicated to knights and set in medieval times became popular in France. The historical theme is set in a glorious past related to the history of the painter's country, France, and can be related to the pictorial historicism of the 19th century, the main trend at the time, linked to the Academies of Fine Arts. The term "historicism" (Historismus) was coined by the German philosopher Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel. Over time, what historicism is and how it is practised has taken on different and divergent meanings. Elements of historicism appear in the writings of the French essayist Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) and the Italian philosopher GB Vico (1668-1744), and were more fully developed with the dialectics of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), influential in nineteenth-century Europe.