Looking back through the ages has been an enlightening experience. I have found that the intellectuals of the time delved for a deeper meaning in all that is life. With the advances in science, the philosophers were at once able to substantiate their claims. We can call the eighteenth century the age of the enlightenment because it was both a culmination and a new beginning. New currents of thought were wearing down institutionalized traditions. New ideas and new approaches to old institutions were setting the stage for great revolutions to come. Throughout both the age of Enlightenment and the Romantic age, we see the Artist of the time searching for perfection, coupled with the quest for logic. Rating the art, music, architecture, philosophy, and literature of both ages and putting them into a list of the top ten seemed to be an insurmountable task, be here we have made a valiant attempt.
             For the Enlightenment period, we chose Thomas Jefferson because even though he is more well-known for his political achievements, he was also a prominent architect. He used a form of neoclassical architectural representation when he designed the state capital of Richmond, Virginia. His architectural inspirations came from ancient Roman temples.
             Denis Diderot was the most prominently recognized and one of the most powerful writers of his time. His wrote the Encyclopedie which became "known as The Analytical Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts."(Fiero, G.) It was the largest publication of works ever produced in the West. His work was a "response to the rising literacy and to the wider public interest in facts of everyday life."(Fiero, G.)
             William Hogarth and his engraving Gin Lane depicted the turmoil that was England at the time. Hogarth's concern with the state of the modern city, the dignity of professional women, and issues of theatricality, race, class, and taste predominated in his work. Hogarth was an active participan...