Romanticism is a cultural, artistic and literary movement that began in Europe in
the late of the XVIII century, spreading across the world by the end of the XIX century.
The main features of this period are enhancement of emotions, freedom of creation,
platonic love, religious themes, individualism, nationalism, and history. Also, this period
was heavily influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
Highlighting romanticism in the visual arts, the main characteristics of romantic paintings
are divided in three parts. The first part is related about themes that aren’t new but started
being treated according to the romantic mentality and its new concepts: historical
(episodes of the medieval time and valorization of the hero who gives himself to his
cause), literature (both literature from the past as well as literature from Classical and
Renaissance authors), mythological, and self-portrait (the emotional exaltation of the
person). The second part had the themes: political and social events (shipwrecks, social
revolts, and nationalist wars), inspiration in the world of dreams, popular customs,
traditions, and animals. Finally, the third and most important part is landscape, which was
the primary method for romantic artist express their feelings and thoughts. Furthermore,
the common subject motives for romantic paintings are the fact that Romanticism
abandoned the rationality and reason in favor of temperament, accident, and emotion.