"Jeune orpheline au cimetière" and "Jane, Countess of Harrington" symbolize two different periods of the art history. Young Orphan Girl in the Cemetery is an early work of Eugène Delacroix, the master of French Romanticism. The picture is full of sadness - there is a young orphan girl in a white gown, which slightly shows her bare shoulders. She is looking somewhere beyond the picture frame and Delacroix shows the girl's despair through certain elements like tears in her dark eyes or her lying hand. She seems to be distracted from what surrounds her, the artist uses dark shades on the right of her figure and it makes the viewer feel that she is separated from the rest of the picture. The girl's mouth is slightly open as if she wants to call someone for help. The cold colors of the painting create the atmosphere of solitude. Delacroix's brushstrokes were gentle and delicate while painting the girl's dress and neck and there is a feeling he wants to protect a little orphan girl from her grief. His painting is a great example of Romantic art because this period is not about the subject on the picture - it is about the story and the emotions that the viewer can feel after seeing it.
The second painting represents the Neoclassicism genre of art. It is a portrait of Jane Fleming, later Countess of Harrington made by Joshua Reynolds, a British artist famous for promoting continental Grand Style in Britain. This portrait is similar with the previous one, because the artist painted a young beautiful girl looking somewhere beyond the portrait. But if the paintings are placed side by side, it may seem that the girls are looking to each other. Jane Fleming wears a stunning dress and she has fashionable ostrich feathers in her hair. She looks perfect comparing to a poor orphan girl and it seems she may be the one an orphan would dream to become some day. Jane is very confident, she knows what kind of impression she shows, and Reynolds emphasizes it by combining a couple of elements - his famous idealization of imperfect things and the way he presents the person on a painting. In this case a young woman is shown as a theatrical figure, and her hand resembles a gesture that ancient actors used when it was their turn to speak. This is a typical Neoclassical painting, because of resemblance of a Greek figure and a fashionable outfit of a woman. Delacroix's girl was separated from the rest of the picture by the lightning, but Jane Fleming on the contrary seems to fit perfectly in the rest of the painting. She is in the right place and her figure is painted gently with soft brushes. So the two paintings look as if a poor orphan girl sees an ideal woman, who wants to comfort her and teach how to become confident. The Romantic and Neoclassic periods are different, but together these different paintings look very harmonically.
Bibliography
"EMuseum." EMuseum. Accessed April 29, 2015. http://emuseum.huntington.org/view/objects/asitem/People$004067/7/title-asc?t:state:flow=35712d4d-c937-4674-a607-3804820ac16f.
"Visitor Trails : Eugène Delacroix: Passion and Inspiration | Louvre Museum | Paris." Site Officiel Du Musée Du Louvre. Accessed April 29, 2015. http://www.louvre.fr/en/routes/eugene-delacroix.
