Fascicule I 1763

This print, ‘Fascicule I,’ was created by Jean Claude Richard, Abbé de Saint-Non, around the late 18th century using etching. It's a reproduction of antique sculptures, revealing much about the cultural values of its time. This was an era when classical antiquity was seen as the pinnacle of artistic and cultural achievement. The study and replication of ancient art were central to artistic training and the cultivation of good taste. Produced in France, this print reflects the broader European fascination with the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. The figures depicted – rendered in painstaking detail – would have been instantly recognizable to contemporary viewers as symbols of power, virtue, and ideal beauty. The institutional history of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in France and its promotion of classical ideals is particularly relevant here. Understanding this work fully requires delving into the history of art academies, the Grand Tour, and the burgeoning field of art history in the 18th century. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.