Why did critics object to Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’s troubadour paintings?

Critics objected to Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’s "troubadour" paintings because they viewed the works as a regressive departure from established artistic standards. These paintings, which depicted medieval and Renaissance subjects, featured stiff, doll-like figures placed within simplified, boxy interiors reminiscent of 14th-century Italian panel paintings.

When these canvases were exhibited at the Salon, they fueled attacks from critics who portrayed Ingres as a "savage" intent on taking art back to its infancy. By adopting the artistic mannerisms of the periods he depicted, Ingres challenged the prevailing academic expectations of his time, leading detractors to view his stylistic choices as a primitive regression rather than a sophisticated evolution of the Classical tradition he otherwise championed.1