Look closely at Joseph Mallord William Turner's painting Modern Rome—Campo Vaccino. What words would you use to describe the painting? 

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Turner and the poet Lord Byron both created works during the Romantic era, an artistic movement during the late 1700s. Romantic poets and artists valued imagination and the natural world instead of realism and order. They also embraced individualism and emotion over rationalism. 

Discuss with a partner which characteristics of Romantic art can be seen in Turner’s painting.

Turner quoted Lord Byron’s Childe Harold in an exhibition catalogue that accompanied the display of his painting. 
Read the following excerpts from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold. Work with a partner to find examples of characteristics typical of Romanticism—such as natural motifs and emotional or imaginative (as opposed to logical) descriptions.

XXVI.
The commonwealth of kings, the men of Rome! 
And even since, and now, fair Italy! 
Thou art the garden of the world, the home 
Of all Art yields, and Nature can decree; 
Even in thy desert, what is like to thee? 
Thy very weeds are beautiful, thy waste 
More rich than other climes’ fertility; 
Thy wreck a glory, and thy ruin graced 
With an immaculate charm which cannot be defaced.
	XXVII.
The moon is up, and yet it is not nigh — 
Sunset divides the sky with her—a sea 
Of glory streams along the Alpine height 
Of blue Friuli’s mountains; Heaven is free 
From clouds, but of all colours seems to be— 
Melted to one vast Iris of the West, 
Where the day joins the past eternity; 
While, on the other hand, meek Dian’s crest 
Floats through the azure air—an island of the blest!	

Turner painted famous Roman landmarks in his painting. Write down three landmarks that remind you of Los Angeles.

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Turner created his painting ten years after he visited Rome. His painting is more of a romanticized depiction of Rome rather than a precise record of how the city looked. Like Turner, combine all three Los Angeles landmarks in one romanticized landscape below:

On another page, write a "Romantic" stanza of a poem about Los Angeles as if you are speaking to Los Angeles.