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In the artistic sense, the Romantic era was associated with the intention of arousing emotions and serving longings. Directional were thereby the longing towards the south and after past times.
Louis-Francois Cassas was born in this very era as the son of a field knife, who encouraged him at an early age to begin an apprenticeship as a technical draftsman. The young Louis-Francois already put a lot of ambition into the meticulously accurate depiction of his motifs and was fixated on depicting everything as realistically as possible. The variety of his, learned at a Parisian drawing academy, techniques such as drawing, watercolor painting and the extremely detailed coloring are reflected in his later works and are the basis for the special atmosphere of his works.
At the age of 23, Louis-Francois-Cassas combined the formative motifs of Romanticism, the longing towards the south and the longing for the past, and set off for Rome. He was able to pursue his fascination for archaic architecture in the eternal city, which offered a multitude of ancient Roman monuments. During this period, Cassas understood how to reflect the peculiarities of ancient Roman architecture in a very real way, thus giving his drawings a documentary value as well.
His longing for foreign countries, especially in the Near East, drove him to pursue this and based on his reputation as a draftsman and painter, it happened that he was allowed to accompany the French ambassador on a diplomatic trip to Constantinople. On behalf of the ambassador, he was able to capture the picturesque landscapes and ancient buildings of the then Ottoman Empire in such a way that a viewer cannot help but be fascinated by the oriental hemisphere. Cassas thereby transported his own passion for bygone eras and foreign cultures onto his canvas, so that one gets a good idea of what it must have been like to see his motifs with his own eyes and to be able to absorb the atmosphere.
The longings that are still alive eventually drove Cassas to Syria. While in the oasis city of Palmyra, he made various drawings of the ancient architecture in and around this millennia-old city. His penchant for meticulousness and the associated extremely detailed depiction of his motifs from this period led to these works being recited as a template for the ancient architectural record. In the further course Cassas was drawn again and again to the Near East, where numerous monuments of ancient architecture offered him motifs and he could indulge his love of the exotic. From Lebanon to Palestine to the monuments of Egyptian architectural culture, he often acted as a pioneer in the artistic documentation of many ancient buildings.
Before Cassas returned to France in 1792, he again stayed in Rome, where, in addition to his love for the archaic architecture of the eternal city, he found and married the love of his life. This closes the circle of satisfaction of longings in the life of Louis-Francois Cassas.
In the artistic sense, the Romantic era was associated with the intention of arousing emotions and serving longings. Directional were thereby the longing towards the south and after past times.
Louis-Francois Cassas was born in this very era as the son of a field knife, who encouraged him at an early age to begin an apprenticeship as a technical draftsman. The young Louis-Francois already put a lot of ambition into the meticulously accurate depiction of his motifs and was fixated on depicting everything as realistically as possible. The variety of his, learned at a Parisian drawing academy, techniques such as drawing, watercolor painting and the extremely detailed coloring are reflected in his later works and are the basis for the special atmosphere of his works.
At the age of 23, Louis-Francois-Cassas combined the formative motifs of Romanticism, the longing towards the south and the longing for the past, and set off for Rome. He was able to pursue his fascination for archaic architecture in the eternal city, which offered a multitude of ancient Roman monuments. During this period, Cassas understood how to reflect the peculiarities of ancient Roman architecture in a very real way, thus giving his drawings a documentary value as well.
His longing for foreign countries, especially in the Near East, drove him to pursue this and based on his reputation as a draftsman and painter, it happened that he was allowed to accompany the French ambassador on a diplomatic trip to Constantinople. On behalf of the ambassador, he was able to capture the picturesque landscapes and ancient buildings of the then Ottoman Empire in such a way that a viewer cannot help but be fascinated by the oriental hemisphere. Cassas thereby transported his own passion for bygone eras and foreign cultures onto his canvas, so that one gets a good idea of what it must have been like to see his motifs with his own eyes and to be able to absorb the atmosphere.
The longings that are still alive eventually drove Cassas to Syria. While in the oasis city of Palmyra, he made various drawings of the ancient architecture in and around this millennia-old city. His penchant for meticulousness and the associated extremely detailed depiction of his motifs from this period led to these works being recited as a template for the ancient architectural record. In the further course Cassas was drawn again and again to the Near East, where numerous monuments of ancient architecture offered him motifs and he could indulge his love of the exotic. From Lebanon to Palestine to the monuments of Egyptian architectural culture, he often acted as a pioneer in the artistic documentation of many ancient buildings.
Before Cassas returned to France in 1792, he again stayed in Rome, where, in addition to his love for the archaic architecture of the eternal city, he found and married the love of his life. This closes the circle of satisfaction of longings in the life of Louis-Francois Cassas.