For instance, in the background a British soldier is racing toward the group, as he carries the captured French flag. At the same time, his inclusion also places the scene firmly within the New World, for the artist has carefully selected all the significant elements. The Indigenous warrior has attracted much scholarly interpretation, including the argument that he represents the noble savage, a concept advanced by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau who extolled the simpler and therefore nobler character of "primitive" peoples. While these identifiable portraits created a sense of accuracy and historical importance, almost all of them were not at the scene, and their inclusion reflects the artist's intention to compose an iconic image of a British hero. Thomas Hinde tries to staunch the general's bleeding, and Lieutenant Colonel Simon Fraser of the 78 th Fraser Highlanders is shown in his company's tartan. A number of officers are identifiable, as Captain Harvey Smythe holds Wolfe's arm, Dr. A sense of drama is conveyed as the battle ends with a singular heroic sacrifice. Two more officers on the right frame the scene, while in the background the opposing forces mill, and black smoke from the battlefield and storm clouds converge around the intersecting diagonal of the flag. In the left foreground, a single Indigenous man sits, his chin in his hand, as if deep in thought. To the left a group of officers stand in attendance, conveying a distress reminiscent of depictions of the mourning of Christ. His figure, creating the base of a pyramidal grouping that rises to the partially furled flag above, and his pale face are lit up with a Christ-like illumination, making him the visual and emotional center of the work. We see him lying on the battlefield as he is surrounded and comforted by a group of officers. Wolfe was killed by musket fire in the brief battle as he led the British forces to victory, setting in motion the conquest of Canada from the French. This painting shows the death of Major-General James Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at the Battle of Quebec in 1759 during the Seven Years' War, known in the United States as the French and Indian War. Neoclassicism's rise was in large part due to the popularity of the Grand Tour, in which art students and the general aristocracy were given access to recently unearthed ruins in Italy, and as a result became enamored with the aesthetics and philosophies of ancient art.It also evolved the more recent influences of the equally antiquity-informed 16 th century Renaissance Classicism. Neoclassical architecture was based on the principles of simplicity, symmetry, and mathematics, which were seen as virtues of the arts in Ancient Greece and Rome.It had the power to civilize, reform, and transform society, as society itself was being transformed by new approaches to government and the rising forces of the Industrial Revolution, driven by scientific discovery and invention. The primary Neoclassicist belief was that art should express the ideal virtues in life and could improve the viewer by imparting a moralizing message.It brought about a general revival in classical thought that mirrored what was going on in political and social arenas of the time, leading to the French Revolution. Neoclassical art arose in opposition to the overly decorative and gaudy styles of Rococo and Baroque that were infusing society with a vanity art culture based on personal conceits and whimsy.
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