Art in Theory (1648-1815)provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive collection of documents on the theory of art from the founding of the French Academy until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Like its highly successful companion volumes, Art in Theory (1815-1900)and Art in Theory (1900-1990),its' primary aim is to provide students and teachers with the documentary material for informed and up-to-date study. Its' 240 texts, clear principles of organization and considerable editorial content offer a vivid and indispensable introduction to the art of the early modern period.

Harrison, Wood and Gaiger have collected writing by artists, critics, philosophers, literary figures and administrators of the arts, some reprinted in their entirety, others excerpted from longer works. A wealth of material from French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Latin sources is also provided, including many new translations.

Among the major themes treated are early arguments over the relative merits of ancient and modern art, debates between the advocates of form and color, the beginnings of modern art criticism in reviews of the Salon, art and politics during the French Revolution, the rise of landscape painting, and the artistic theories of Romanticism and Neo-classicism.

Each section is prefaced by an essay that situates the ideas of the period in their historical context, while relating theoretical concerns and debates to developments in the practice of art. Each individual text is also accompanied by a short introduction. An extensive bibliography and full index are provided.

For more details of our book and journal list in Art, visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/arttheory

"All three of these books are essential additions to any public or private library concerned with Art. For the reader who comes a novice to this discipline they provide a superb first entry point to an otherwise bewildering array of publications concerned with the theory of art. Rather like a jigsaw puzzle they encourage the reader to make the connections that will complete the picture. But more importantly, what each of these anthologies does brilliantly is to tempt the relative novice to go further with their research. By presenting an overview of the evolution of a set of ideas within defined parameters and over a specified period of time through the erudite selection of sensitively edited primary texts, the reader is subtly invited to seek out the originals and flesh out their understanding. For those who are more experienced in the field they cleverly provide a means of prompting new ideas within the reader's field of enquiry."

--Journal of Art & Design

This volume provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive collection of documents on the theory of art from the founding of the French Academy until the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

The 240 texts in this volume, each with its own introduction, document transformations in the theory of art from the founding of the French Academy to the emergence of Romanticism.

Art in Theory 1815-1900provides the most wide-ranging and comprehensive collection of documents ever assembled on nineteenth-century theories of art.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [1180]-1193) and index.

Charles Harrisonis co-editor of Art in Theory 1900 - 1990(Blackwell, 1992) and of Art in Theory 1815 - 1900(Blackwell, 1997). He is the author of English Art and Modernism 1900 - 1939(1994), of Essays on Art & Language,and of Modernism(1997) in the series "Movements in Modern Art". He has lectured widely in England, Europe and the USA and has been visiting Professor in History of Art at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently Professor of the History and Theory of Art and Staff tutor in Arts at the Open University.

Paul Woodis co-editor of Art in Theory 1900 - 1990(1992) and of Art in Theory 1815 - 1900(1998). He has published widely on modern art and art history in a variety of journals and exhibition catalogues. He has edited The Challenge of the Avant Garde(1998) and co-edited Investigating Modern Art(1996) and has contributed to Realism, Rationalism, Surrealism, and Modernism in Dispute(both 1993) and to Critical Terms for Art History(1996). He is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Art History at the Open University.

Jason Gaigeris co-editor of Art in Theory 1915 - 1900(1997). He has published various articles in the field of art history and aesthetics, and has been a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Essex, York and North London. He is currently Lecturer in Art History at the Open University.

Acknowledgements.

A Note on the Presentation and Editing of Texts.

General Introduction.

Part I: Establishing the Place of Art:.

Introduction.

1. Ancients and Moderns:.

1. From The Painting of the Ancients1637: Franciscus Junius.

2. Letter to Junius 1637: Peter Paul Rubens.

3. From The Art of Painting, its Antiquity and Greatness1649: Francisco Pacheco.

4. Dedication to Constantijn Huygens from Icones I1660: Jan de Bisschop.

5. From Painting Illustrated in Three Dialogues1685: William Aglionby.

6. 'A Digression on the Ancients and the Moderns' 1688: Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle.

7. Preface and 'Second Dialogue' from Parallel of the Ancients and Moderns1688: Charles Perrault.

8. From Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning1694: William Wotton.

2. The Academy: Systems and Principles:.

9. Letters to Chantelou and to Chambray 1647/1665: Nicholas Poussin.

10. Observations on Painting c. 1660-5: Nicholas Poussin.

11. Recollections of Poussin 1662-1685: Various Authors.

12. Petition to the King and to the Lords of his Council 1648: Martin de Charmois.

13. Statutes and Regulations of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture 1648.

14. From An Idea of the Perfection of Painting1662: Roland Fréart de Chambray.

15. Letter to Poussin c. 1665: Jean Baptiste Colbert.

16. 'The Idea of the Painter, Sculptor and Architect' 1664: Giovanni Pietro Bellori.

17. From Conversations on the Lives and Works of the Most Excellent Ancient and Modern Painters1666: André Félibien.

18. Preface to Seven Conferences1667: André Félibien.

19. 'First Conference' 1667: Charles LeBrun.

20. 'Second Conference' 1667: Philippe de Champaigne.

21. 'Sixth Conference' 1667: Charles LeBrun.

22. 'Conference on Expression' 1668: Charles LeBrun.

23. Table of Precepts: Expression 1680: Henri Testelin.

3. Form and Colour:.

24. 'De Imitatione Statuorum', before 1640: Peter Paul Rubens.

25. From The Microcosm of Painting1657: Francesco Scannelli.

26. From 'Diary of the Cavaliere Bernini's Visit to France' 1665: Paul Fréart de Chantelou.

27. From De Arte Graphica1667: Charles-Alphonse Du Fresnoy.

28. 'Remarks on De Arte Graphica'1668: Roger de Piles.

29. From The Rich Mines of Venetian Painting1676: Marco Boschini.

30. 'Conference on Titian's Virgin and Child with St John'1671: Phillipe de Champaigne.

31. 'Conference on the Merits of Colour' 1671: Louis Gabriel Blanchard.

32. 'Thoughts on M. Blanchard's Discourse on the Merits of Colour' 1672: Charles LeBrun.

33. From Dialogue upon Colouring1673: Roger de Piles.

34. From Practical Discourse on the Most Noble Art of Paintingc. 1675: Jusepe Martinez.

35. From The Antiquity of the Art of Paintingc. 1690: Felix da Costa.

4. The 'je ne sais quoi':.

36. From The Hero1637: Baltasar Gracián.

37. From The Art of Worldly Wisdom1647: Baltasar Gracián.

38. 'Answer to Davenant's Preface to Gondibert'1650: Thomas Hobbes.

39. From Fire in the Bush and The Law of Freedom in a Platform1650/2: Gerrard Winstanley.

40. From Penséesc.1654-1662: Blaise Pascal.

41. On Grace and Beauty from Conversations on the Lives and Works of the Most Excellent Ancient and Modern Painters1666: André Félibien.

42. From The Conversations of Aristo and Eugene1671: Dominique Bouhours.

43. From A Compleat Body of Divinity1689/1701: Samuel Willard.

44. On Art and Beauty, Before 1716: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

5. Practical Resources:.

45. From Miniatura; or The Art of Limning,Revised 1648: Edward Norgate.

46. On Rembrandt and Jan Lievens c.1630: Constantijn Huygens.

47. Letters to Constantijn Huygens 1636-9: Rembrandt van Rijn.

48. From In Praise of Painting1642: Philips Angel.

49. From The Art of Painting, its Antiquity and Greatness1649: Francisco Pacheco.

50. Preface to Perspective Practical1651: Jean Dubreuil.

51. From Introduction to the Academy of Painting; or, The Visible World1678: Samuel van Hoogstraten.

52. 'The Excellency of Painting' from A Treatise of Perspective1684: R. P. Bernard Lamy.

53. From Principles for Studying the Sovereign and Most Noble Art of Painting1693: José Garcia Hidalgo.

Part II: The Profession of Art:.

Introduction.

6. Painting as a Liberal Art:.

54. From The Great Book on Painting1707: Gerard de Lairesse.

55. From The Principles of Painting1708: Roger de Piles.

56. On Feminine Studies, After 1700: Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757).

57. 'To the Reader' 1710: Mary Chudleigh.

58. From The Pictorial Museum and Optical Scale1715-24: Antonio Palomino y Velasco.

59. From Essay on the Theory of Painting1715: Jonathan Richardson.

60. From The Science of a Connoisseur1719: Jonathan Richardson.

61. On the Grand Manner, from 'On the Aesthetic of the Painter' 1721: Antoine Coypel.

62. From 'On the Excellence of Painting' 1721: Antoine Coypel.

63. From Cyclopaedia 1728: Ephraim Chambers.

64. 'On Drawings' 1732: Comte de Caylus.

65. 'The Life of Antoine Watteau' 1748: Comte de Caylus.

7. Imagination and Understanding:.

66. 'Of the Association of Ideas' from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding1700: John Locke.

67. From 'The Moralists, A Philosophical Rhapsody' 1709: Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury.

68. From 'A Notion of the Historical Draught of the Tablature of the Judgement of Hercules' 1712: Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury.

69. 'On the Pleasures of the Imagination' 1712: Joseph Addison.

70. From Treatise on Beauty1714: Jean-Pierre de Crousaz.

71. From Critical Reflections on Poetry and Painting1719: Abbé Jean-Baptiste du Bos.

72. Preface to An Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue1725: Francis Hutcheson.

73. 'Third Dialogue' from Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher1732: George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne.

74. 'Of the Sublime' 1725: Jonathan Richardson.

75. 'The Beau Ideal' 1732: Lambert Hermanson ten Kate.

76. From The Philosopher's Cabinet1734: Pierre de Marivaux.

77. 'The Beauty of the World' c.1750: Jonathan Edwards.

Part III: Judgement and the Public Sphere:.

Introduction.

8. Classical and Contemporary:.

78. From A Treatise on Ancient Painting1740: George Turnbull.

79. From 'Discourse on the Arts and Sciences' 1750: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

80. From 'Discourse on the Origins of Inequality' 1755: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

81. From Observations upon the Antiquities of the Town of Herculaneum1753: Jérôme-Charles Bellicard and Charles Nicolas Cochin fils.

82. From Reflections on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture1755: Johann Joachim Winckelmann.

83. From An Inquiry into the Beauties of Painting1761: Daniel Webb.

84. From The Antiquities of Athens1762: James Stewart and Nicholas Revett.

85. From A History of Ancient Art1764: Johann Joachim Winckelmann.

86. 'Of the Camera Obscura' from Essay on Painting1764: Francesco Algarotti.

87. From Laocoön: on the Limitations of Painting and Poetry1766: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.

9. Aesthetics and the Sublime:.

88. From Reflections on Poetry1735: Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten.

89. 'Prolegomena' to Aesthetica1750: Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten.

90. From The Analysis of Beauty1753: William Hogarth.

91. 'Dialogue on Taste' 1755: Allan Ramsay.

92. 'Of the Standard of Taste' 1757: David Hume.

93. From A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful1757: Edmund Burke.

94. 'An Essay on Taste' 1757: Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu.

95. 'Essay on Taste' 1757: Voltaire.

96. Letters to 'The Idler' 1759: Joshua Reynolds.

97. From Conjectures on Original Composition1759: Edward Young.

98. From Giphantia 1760: Charles François Tiphaigne de la Roche.

99. From Aesthetica in Nuce1762: Johann Georg Hamann.

100. From Reflections on Beauty and Taste in Painting1762: Anton Raphael Mengs.

101. 'Beautiful, Beauty' from Philosophical Dictionary1764: Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet).

102. 'Of Taste' from Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man1785: Thomas Reid.

10. The Practice of Criticism:.

103. Reflections on Some Causes of the Present State of Painting in France1747: Etienne La Font de Saint-Yenne.

104. From 'Letter on the Exhibition of Works of Painting, Sculpture, etc.' 1747: Jean-Bernard, Abbé le Blanc.

105. From 'Letter on Painting, Sculpture and Architecture' 1748: Louis-Guillaume Baillet de Saint-Julien.

106. 'On Composition' 1750: Comte de Caylus.

107. From Essay on Architecture1753: Marc-Antoine, Abbé Laugier.

108. 'Letter to M. de Bachaumont on Taste in the Arts and Letters' 1751: Jean-Baptiste de La Curne de Sainte-Palaye.

109. 'Art' from the Encyclopédie 1751: Denis Diderot.

110. 'Genius' from the Encyclopédie1757: Jean-Francois, Marquis de Saint-Lambert.

111. 'Observation' from the Encyclopédie1765: Anonymous.

112. From the Correspondence Littéraire1756: Friedrich Melchior, Baron Grimm.

113. 'Reflexions on Sculpture' 1761: Etienne Falconet.

114. From the 'Salon of 1763', 1763: Denis Diderot.

115. From the 'Salon of 1765' and 'Notes on Painting' 1765: Denis Diderot.

116. From the 'Salon of 1767', 1768: Denis Diderot.

Part IV: A Public Discourse:.

Introduction.

11. Consolidation and Instruction:.

117. Letter to Richard Graves 1760: William Shenstone.

118. 'Of Academies' c.1760-1: William Hogarth.

119. From 'Letter on Sculpture' 1765: Frans Hemsterhuis.

120. 'A Discourse upon the Academy of Fine Art at Madrid' 1766: Anton Raphael Mengs.

121. Correspondence 1766-7: Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley.

122. On the Death of General Wolfec.1771: Benjamin West.

123. From Discourses on Art, III, VI and XI1770-82: Joshua Reynolds.

124. DiscourseIX 1780: Joshua Reynolds.

125. On Exhibtions by Angelica Kauffman 1775-86: Various Reviewers.

126. From An Inquiry into the Real and Imaginary Obstructions to the Acquisition of the Arts in England1774: James Barry.

127. From 'Disconnected Thoughts on Painting, Sculpture and Poetry' 1781: Denis Diderot.

128. From Treatise on the Principles and Rules of Painting1781: Jean-Etienne Liotard.

129. From A Review of the Polite Arts in France1782: Valentine Green.

130. 'Address to the Royal Academy of San Fernando regarding the Method of Teaching the Visual Arts' 1792: Francisco Goya.

131. From the Dictionnaire des Arts de Peinture, Sculpture et Gravure1792: Claude-Henri Watelet and Pierre-Charles Lévesque.

132. A Letter to the Dilettanti Society1798: James Barry.

12. Revolution:.

133. From Mémoires Secrets1783-5: Anonymous.

134. Letter to Joseph-Marie Vien 1789: Charles-Étienne-Gabriel Cuvillier.

135. Review of the Salon of 1789: Comte de Mende Maupas.

136. 'Artists' Demand' 1789: Students of the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts.

137. Letter to Thomas Jefferson 1789: John Trumbull.

138. Response to Edmund Burke 1790: Mary Wollstonecraft.

139. 'On the System of Teaching' from Considerations on the Arts of Design in France1791: Antoine Quatremère de Quincy.

140. On his Picture of Le Peletier 1793: Jacques-Louis David.

141. Preliminary Statement to the Official Catalogue of the Salon 1793: Gazat, Minister of the Interior/Anonymous.

142. 'The Jury of Art' 1793: Jacques-Louis David.

143. Proposal for a Monument to the French People 1793: Jacques-Louis David.

144. Project for the Apotheoses of Barra and Viala 1794: Jacques-Louis David.

145. 'Foreword' to the Historical and Chronological Description of the Monuments of Sculpture1795/7: Alexandre Lenoir.

Part V: Nature and Human Nature:.

Introduction.

13. The Human as