The art of Alexandre Cabanel

This thesis examines the accusation of "tasteless art" against the French painter Alexandre Cabanel with respect to the socio-political situation of his era which prepares the ground for his accusation. At the core of this analysis, the reac-tionary attitude towards the revolutionary effect of neoclassicism, and related class-conflicts in the period in which the painter lived were taken into account. The aes-thetic approaches and art movements of the period are only mentioned within the given socio-political context, provided that they overlap with the context of the sub-ject. Hence, the social conflicts of the era have been investigated within the frame-work of their complicated and mostly indirect relationships with the accusation a-gainst Cabanel.