Paul Delaroche, Hemicycle of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, 1814

Delaroche's murial covers the inside of a large dome in the entrance to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the traditional school for painting and sculpture in Paris. It captures the classical and hierarchical vision of art fostered by the French Academy of Fine Arts.

As you look at these three sections of the mural, think about what it says about attitudes towards art that these particular images were chosen to represent to the young artyists entering the school what art was supposed to be. What things are being valued here? What assumptions about the nature of art are implicit in the choices being made in this mural?

Left Section

Center Section

Right