Langwerpige vaas met deksel bekroond met bol c. 1650

Georges Tournier made this etching of an antique vase topped with a sphere. The vase, decorated with dancing figures and satyr heads, stands squarely in the frame, its classical references announcing the revival of interest in antiquity that swept through Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. This aesthetic was actively promoted by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which was founded in France in 1648 and soon became the gold standard across Europe. This and other institutions codified what good art should look like and how it should be made, effectively raising the status of the artist from skilled craftsman to intellectual. This print, which depicts an artifact likely found on the Grand Tour of Italy, is very much in line with the Academy's taste for the classical. To better understand the social history of art such as this, scholars consult primary source documents like letters and archival records. Such resources help to reveal how art and artists were viewed in their time, and what role they played in the development of social values.