Jean-Jacques Lequeu

Author(s): Emil Kaufmann

Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Jun., 1949), pp. 130-135
Published by: CAA
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 130 THE ART BULLETIN

modest function which prepares

in such the pathet
a situation: not
Raphael's Parnassus.much
The piquant
fuss about
triangle,
an acciV
and Mars, reverts to the usual
forbade her pair of love
ladies-in-wa
tacles.'6 Wind
by the not at all extraordinary has still a
appendage, t
husband. He writes, Isabella's "r
In a note publishedher wish years
many to see ago,'l
them Ire
onstrate that in the day of
ficiently Mantegna
well known to th
for
besides the inherited her."
moral Around
attitude I5oo
toward
Mars and Venus, had connotation that it ano
already reached gai
any moral criticism from it later
of their illicitin Italia
affair.
Accademia
bining the paragon of heroic braverydella Crusca
and th
ornate,"
of female beauty, appears in and figurativ
epithalamia fo
tinguished members a dance of the of Ferrarese
Muses she cir ce
even accompanied awe by Vulcan.as reflected Isabella,
in thos w
Ferrara, had fromtioned
her childhood above, which on been he
such a representation
her througheyes in the the decora
library
lazzo Schifanoja; here
I statedMars beforehand
is kneeling th in
fore Venus sitting on
the her triumphal
Parnassus car.
utterly la
This, turned into courtly
quent plea. language,
Just as is he
the d
idea of Mars and Venus,
trating also inherited
its spirit, but fr I
tiquity. Lucian's interpretation
of fulfilling the of theuO
task
offers a confirmation: "Indeed it
with offering is the
a few hew
Venus and Mars that ifcreateth
forced to the advance
poetry h o
profound thought them as such.
which may very well ha
the program given Mantegna for his co
NEW YORK CITY
painted allegory which aims at such a su
mands a certain grandeur of
EDITORIAL NOTE: Dr. style.
Edgar A thathe
Wind has indicated car
improvised, an uncouth woodcut
reply to the above is inmanufa
note for publication the September is
masses, lascivious poetry is illustrated in d
BULLETIN.

ings intended for a limited circle of well-p

But no picture containing such piquant illu
suggests to the reader, JEAN-JACQUES LEQUEU
is painted for t
princess, the granddaughter of Naples a
EMIL KAUFMANN
Ferrara, closely related to all noble court
First Lady of her age! The Parnassus de
In the city of Rouen, the birthplace of Jac
of the drawing room which the most se
Blondel, the famous architect and the great
Italy frequented; it was accessible to ever
architecture in eighteenth century France,
at any hour, in any mood. We are acquai
interesting architect, Jean-Jacques Lequeu,
ideal a court was expected to represent a
a century later. I have twice attempted to d
Castiglione, who had spent his early yea
to his fantastic designs, first in Von Ledo
circle and his later years at the court of her
in-law. Granted that busier,'
the then in the essay on Etienne-Lo
description given
THE ART BULLETIN, XXI, 1939.2 In each
giano is only an ideal. On the other hand
trated several of Lequeu's drawings. My s
such a description and destination, devise
doux soon prompted further research an
man, approved by the princess, executed
popular nature,3 but such was not the cas
preparation by the court painter of wor
Yet I still believe that Lequeu's architect
necessarilyembodies a corresponding ideal.
are not merely curios, but throw much ligh
Isabella's many,
and in part very intima
not offer the slightestofclue
dition architecture in the fateful years
to indicate tha a
seems to be worthwhile to recount his life fr
deviated from the behavior considered pro
source material available and to show some more of his
sance court. When Wind interprets Isabe
remarkable inventions.
the objectionable comedies performed in
Jean-Jacques Lequeu was born on September 14,
occasion of Alfonso's wedding (p. 46), he as
"granted levity its I757.4 His father, Jean-Jacques-Frangois,
legitimate place." seems to have
In fac
actly as the Cortegiano recommended his id
I. Emil Kaufmann, Von Ledoux bis Le Corbusier, Vienna and
Leipzig, 1933.
13. "Zur h6fischen Allegorie der Renaissance," Jahrbuch
2. E. Kaufmann, der Kunst-
"'tienne-Louis Boullee," ART BULLETIN,
historischen Sammlungen, Wien, xxxIv, 1917, pp. 25 ff.
XXI, 1939, pp. 212-217.
14. Loeb Classical Library, vol. v, p. 365.
15. B. Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, 3. Cf. my reviewby
translated of L.
M. E.
Raval and J.-Ch. Moreux, Claude-
Op-
dycke, New York, 1901, p. 176. Nicolas Ledoux, Paris, 1945, in ART BULLETIN, XXX, 1948, pp.
16. Julia (Cartwright) Ady, Isabella d'Este,288-29I.
New York, 1903, vol. I,
p. 212. 4. According to a letter of application directed by Lequeu to

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 NOTES 131

been a architectural
cabinetmaker, or
interest in him recognit
landscape arc
His in are
activities the early
known
tered in tour
the with the
collection o
liotheque Nationale
note"1 and in
s
life, One
however, carries
archite
interior villa Medici
decoration the
of designnise.))16
at Rouen he
I778.' The Indirector
a further note, and also in an application submitted of
tiste to the Minister of the Interior,
Descamps in 80oi,17 Lequeu states
the elder
ability andthat hewished
built the Casino of Madame de Meulenaer, himin
in Paris. He persuaded
1786.18 In this application he declares to have erected also t
the younga Maisonman de plaisance for the Count a de Bouville
two-yin the
the capitalsame year.19in 1779.
(In a drawing he calls this house "Temple de On
sought to silence," dating it 1788.)2" About this time he himse
present was still
tion, to employed by Soufflot "dit le Romain" (as he describes
Jacques-Germ
of the him to distinguish him from the architect ofwas
Pantheon the Pan- a
few days theon).
later. Then
When the younger Soufflot carried out the H8tel S
architect Montholon
Julien-David
on the Boulevard Montmartre,2' Lequeu was
the Ruines de
"a draughtsman Grace,
and inspector" under him, also providing w
the Royal designs for furniture.22
Academy. Sou
in his own not ascertain
I could studio whether our architect executed the tog
Soufflot, church of the Capuchin nuns
who hadof Marseille which hejustil-
forgot Soufflot's bene
lustrates in a drawing dated 1788."2 In the application he
nated a collection
lists as further achievements the project for of
the parochial eng
Bibliothique Imperiale
church of St. Germain-en-Laye, and one for a hospital at
names himself
Bordeaux in 1788. He also states that Soufflo
he was the Chef
record ofdes ateliers
the great
publics in the faubourg Saint-Antoine in 1790 ar
queu called
and 1791 andalsothat he took part in the on preparations for oth
have been the first recommend
great revolutionary festival, the Fe^te de la fede'-
graver andration onsecretary
the Champ-de-Mars on July 14, 1790. of
and the architect,
The era of political upheaval brought about an impor- Fran
In the tant change in Lequeu's
first years career. He had to give up the of h
to devote freeto
profession of an teaching
architect and became a civil servant.
done already at
For he had lost all his property,24 and theRouen
general situa-
his lessons ("Avis
tion, of course, was unfavorable to building. He auxentered am
carried-outthe office of the drawings
cadastre in the first year of the Republic
us about this
(1793)25 and remained side
employed there until the ofoffice hi
before his journey to
was discontinued in 1801.-" Yet in the beginning of his
the Minister of the Interior, kept among Lequeu's drawings in the the Academy of Rouen. The respective decree is kept B.N., Ha 80.
Bibliothique Nationale, Cabinet des Estampes, Paris, folio Ha In the application (cf. note 4), Lequeu says of his project: "qui
8o. The letter appears to have beeen written in the year x of the me valait un titre a l'academie royale de cette ville."
revolutionary calendar (1801/2). 15. B.N., Ha 8oa. 16. B.N., Ha 8ob.
5. B.N., Ha 8o0b, pp. 4, 6o, 61; Ha 8oa, p. 21, top. '7. This note is in B.N., Ha 8oa. Cf. supra, note 4.
6. Cf. Emile Molinier, Histoire gne'rale des arts appliquess a 8S. Jean-Charles Krafft, Recueil d'architecture civile, Pa
l'industrie, III, Paris, 1896, pp. 204-209. Mobilier frangais du 18o5, pls. 55, 56. Interior decorations, pls. 57-60.
17e et 18e sikcle, Paris, n.d., p. 54. 19. Ibid., pls. 37-39, also with the title "Temple de silen
7. Precis analytique des travaux de l'Academnie Royale, Rouen, and the location "pres Portenort."
Iv, 45> 49. 20. B.N., Ha 8oa, p. 5.
8. Letter of Descamps, of August 19, 1778, B.N. Ha 8oa: 21. Mentioned in the application, see note 4.
" .. Sr. Le Queu mon 6lve . . . a fait le meilleur prix depuis 22. Some are illustrated in Molinier, Histoire . . . , III,
notre Etablissement . . . ii dessine bien il a du Genie et une bonne 204ff.-Molinier, Mobilier . . . , p. 54, assumes that Leq
conduite" (sic). (sic) built the house 1799-18o0. Charles Krafft and N.
9. Letter of Lequeu to Descamps, 1779, B.N., Ha 8o. sonette, Plans coupes et ilevations des plus belles mnaisons
Io. Letter of Descamps, February 12, I780, directed to Le- /hotels construits a Paris et dans les environs, Paris, I 801, as
queu, B.N., Ha 8o: "faites toujours vos efforts pour meriter les the house to Soufflot le Romain, dating it 1786.-The extrav
bontez dont M. Soufflot vous honore." Jean Mondain-Monval, fauteuil gondole might have been Lequeu's invention. Cf. G.
Soufflot, Paris, 1918, pl. vI, illustrates a drawing of the Pantheon neau, Le Style directoire, Paris, n.d., pp. 15, 58.
by Lequeu. Ibid., p. 420, note 3, refers to Lequeu's having worked 23. B.N., Ha 8oa, p. 15.
under Soufflot. 24. Statement in the application.
ii. B.N., Ha 41. 12. Unsigned note, B.N., Ha 8o. 25. Stated in the application, and in the Decree of the Co
13. B.N., Ha 8o. mission d'employes, of 13 thermidor an I, B.N., Ha 80.
14. B.N., Ha 8oa, dated.-A letter of Descamps, August
26. 30,
Stated in the application, and in an attest of the E
1786, B.N., Ha 8o, states that Lequeu was an adjointImp6riale
associe of des Ponts et Chauss~es, of i8oi, B.N., Ha 8o.

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 132 THE ART BULLETIN

new career,
in the year
good II, of
deal his art
his was
prope
service highlyless than moment.
in
critical ninety-three
a He m
suspicion. To prove
andhis
his genuine
portrait, repub
possib
produced an odd drawing,
piece of the titled
first"Port
volum
Nationale.38
and submitted it to the Committee The of
draw
Pu
latter was pleasedthe Louvre,
with though
the foolish comu
drawing went on in the catalogues.
exhibition In
in the Sal
that not
together with a design of a
a single wor
memorial
"Porte du Parisis," or advertisement
the "Arc du peuple,"
sho
upon which the pathetic
gigantic to read
figure of of his
the Fr
represented as Heracles with a
in the works Phrygi
of an unk
queu added to this tive buyer might
life-saving drawingnot
th
ment, "Tout pour labors hardly
patrie," andknew him
on the b
last years
"Dessin pour me sauver is full of c
de la guillotine."
revolutionary gratitudes."
gloss In anoth
on the drawing o
monument, leagues,
referring "acteurs
to the victimsd'intr
of t
certainly was sienne."4'
written when A there
similarly
was
siding with the of the Ministere
conservatives. de l'In
The patrio
year II, "Monumentlics destine
de Paris,42 reveals
' l'exercice
mental
ete du Peuple," may just derangement.
as well have b
enthusiasm as by last trace
fear.31 In I the
could find
year IX
death
the competition for can be ignored
the erection of com
umns in the departements,
his career as and
an in the
artist
part in another held
Thisin the Galerie
dismal end migh d'
Louvre.32 Lequeu's drawings, th
Before embarkingginning.
on his newShould we
career, Lel
exclude
his drawings into book himHe
form. from
made art
u
one containing therecourse to the Archit
title proper, simple
tion dated
other a self-portrait is beyond the
1792.3 Henor
d
day
continuous text, but life. Rather
merely shou
added brief
single designs. Among
acceptedLequeu's
by art drawin
histor
condition
poster of the year as Boullee,
II in which El Gre
and the sculptor Dardel were
counts is not violently
whether
placard informs us in their
that production
the four artistsbu
belonging to a group withof
qualities reactionary
any "norm
drawings
indication that Lequeu was the
the same
author w
interest in it, certainly, was due to the
toward abstraction, th
directed against hisings,
formerand teacher.
the same wis
banal, as in for
In 18oi Lequeu's application any anothe
less ec
with success. He wasconsidered
appointedart. The q
a cartogra
partment of the early years
Interior. can be
First he answ
wo
Paris and later, in the Bureau
teristics of
of the Stati
design
the French empire. and Inminutious rather
1815 he retired
Then began the last,are clear,
tragic most
years ofof th
the
he
illness, frustration, makes
and sarcastic
loneliness lay rem
he
The attitudeannouncin
we know from advertisements of his en
drawings. Two of these appeared
Descamps, Soufflot,in an
I8
cember 1824.37 He student
must have whom
beenthey
force l

27. B.N., Ha 80, p. 193, 74. July I2, I817, p. 362.

28. A note appended 37. Bulletin
to B.N., de Commerce, Ha Paris,80,
December p. 16, 74,
1824.
par le Comit6 de Salut 38. B.N., publique
Ha 8o. au Comit6 d
faire enregistrer et 39. The announcement of 1824
exposer. 25 is preceded by the words: "M.
thermidor, a
29. B.N., Ha 8o, p. 75. Lequeu nous invite 'a insurer textuellement (italics in the an-
30. This remark is nouncement)
on l'annoncethe suivante."
back of B.N., H
leaf: "Ce tems oui on immoloit des victimes humaines ' la liberte." 40. Announcement of 1824: "Son domicile actuel est rue des
31. B.N., Ha 8oa, p. 4. Deux-Portes St. Sauveur, no. 8 . . . et au premier escalier coth
32. Letters by Lequeu and by the Ministry of the Interior, gauche. Il1 avertit le public qu'il est peu connu dans l'enclos de
B.N., Ha 8o. cette cour."
33. B.N., Ha 8o. 34. B.N., Ha 8o. 41. B.N., Ha 8o, both.
35. B.N., Ha 8o, decree of September 30, 1815.42. B.N., Ha 8o. On the head of the form is printed, "Ande
36. Galignani's Messenger, Paris, May 22, S18." I817,
the last p.
figure
4.--of the year having been omitted. I infer
from the text
Journal de Paris politique, commercial, et litteraire, that the
Suppl. note was written in 1822.
no.

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 F .L u hi:.,a. .ufo e e..

4 4I

FIc. L. Leque

FiG. 3. Lequeu, Monument to Athena

Fig ii i

Sr"

: ;"-' .......:e "' 'i ... --::"" ~

F,,. a,4 +%-
i.-T --II
" - " ... . -.. ..

; 1?

FIc. 4. Lequeu, Indian

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 ' I I I I I i

~L;a~?,
aL'...IY~~L~

i;,

~F . -0?
.-i-~8 ----- 1 ~C

Z--v- 1' l ~ - ~ 1 P 1
~PR
i:

L~? i

3~t~~UI i ~ ~ fP- ~ ~ nljrru;3r %?

....~
~Ba R a a a a w s l a I O ?
--- I i'?~f
!
:: : Iliir 'F
.. ,1II : ~~~t

S-"?GC

FIG. 6. Lequeu, Castle on the

FIcG. 7. Lequeu, Sea
Rendez-vous de Bellevue

ig~ ~ ii ~ .i;~l~~: - o;
bj? I.~
.;k- 4L,

i 4w:-0.6 J
" pi-
? i,

;?li

....

PUALlL -_ . %-_;.,;:,:: ........

FIG. 8. Lequeu, Dairy and Hen House FIG. 9. Lequeu, Temple of Ceres F

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 NOTES 133

patrons must have

common to the Louis Seize style. The elongated structureha
have been consistsemployed
of a rusticated groundfloor with arched windows f
and imperial and a second story with offices
straight-headed openings. The
person. All of
central Doric portico runs up to his kn
the height of the Mansard
end of hisroof;civil-service
slightly projecting end-pavilions frame the whole;
of insanity. a dome with a spire terminates the composition. The
I believe that not a personal condition, but the general arrangement is, basically, baroque, but all baroque liveli-
unrest of the period must account for his production in ness has gone. There is no movement in the front, and
the first place. His dream-architecture is the reflection the single elements appear to be frozen. Lequeu's project
of the dreams of his time. Though he wandered beyond differs from Le Carpentier's chiefly in two ways: it lacks
the regular bounds, his fantasies are more than extrava- the latter's rich decoration, especially the semicolumns on
ganzas. They are works of art in which we recognize the the piers of the second story; and the central portion is
man and through which we apprehend the period. Build- considerably altered. The old-timer Le Carpentier was
ing for patrons after classical canons must have been for still intent upon unification. To this end he used the two-
Lequeu in his early years just as boring a job as delineat- storey pattern both in the center and on the sides. Lequeu,
ing maps and charts in his advanced age. Classicism was however, disrupts the continuity of the front by adding
the field in which the unoriginal, the minor spirits, felt the colossal portico. His dome is less conspicuous than that
at home. The independent minds strove to free themselves of the elder master, who exalted the crowning feature by
from the old heritage in one way or another. They laid inserting an attic story between it and the main floor of
down their novel ideas in passionate words or in ecstatic the building. Though Lequeu's design is based on that of
designs. If ever there was such a thing as l'art pour l'art, his predecessor, it reveals unmistakably a changed attitude
we find it in the outbursts of the architects of the French toward composition.
Revolution. Unlike the artists of the end of the nineteenth In the Casino of Terlinden at Sgrawensel, built for the
century they were not out to discover some novel art. dowager Meulenaer in 1786, the main entrance is on
Thus they were less artificial than those who belonged the short side of the rectangular plan, like an ancient
to the art nouveau movement. Boullee, Ledoux, andtemple.4" But the porch is followed by the staircase, be-
Lequeu had to speak out because they were swayed by the hind which the rooms are lined-up in two rows. The plan
emotions and the needs of the moment. is definitely lacking in centralization, or orientation around
a dominating element and this is contrary to truly baroque
Lequeu's early works are rather tame in character and plans. A structure that was supposed to imitate a classical
are in line with the dominant trends of his time-first temple did not, of course, permit a centralized arrange-
Baroque, then classicizing. The inventions of his middle
ment. The architect was not free in designing the plan.
years show him deeply affected by the general excitement Yet it is significant that the patron himself followed the
of the period. His late design are comparatively sober new fashion. In the era of the Baroque the formal pattern
compositions with a few fanciful details. was imperative and no patron would have wanted a house
The Monument to Athena which he conceived when deviating from it. Whoever was responsible for the shape
still a student at Rouen, in 1776, is typically late Baroque,
of the temple-dwelling of Terlinden, its interior indicates
or Rococo, in character (Fig. 3).43 It is composed that in the loose arrangement of the rooms was satisfactory
sweeping curves and rich decoration. The frieze in high
at that moment. The interior decoration was strictly
Louis Seize, stiff and rather closely following Greek
relief consists of a multitude of figures hiding almost com-
pletely the wall to which they are applied. Clouds effacemodels. A memorial in the garden, erected to enshrine
the architectural lines of the upper part of the structure.
the bust of a woman, foreshadows Lequeu's later inven-
There is much movement and plasticity in the design but tions. It shows various odd details, such as the upright
there is no trace of the stern classicism which at that wreath on top of the framing arch, and the bird-wings
time already had become fashionable. The design might affixed to its sides.
make a good model for a decorative piece in porcelain The House of the Count de Bouville near Portenort,
but if carried out as an outdoor monument, the bulky called "Temple de silence," resembles the Casino of Ter-
substructure and the comparatively tiny figure of the linden,
god- outside and inside.46 In these two houses Lequeu
dess would hardly produce a pleasant effect. seems to have been a rather slavish copyist. But when
In 1779 Lequeu made a design for a city hall (Fig. heI).did not depend on a patron and did not have to con-
He evidently hoped that his project might be acceptedsider
to practical needs, he knew how to impart to his crea-
replace the scheme which Le Carpentier, a member oftions
the a character of their own. In the Tomb of Porsenna,
Paris Academy of Architecture, had worked out for of 1792, the very subject matter points to Etruscan mod-
els (Fig. Io). Yet if we compare it with the somewhat
Rouen in 1758."4 According to Lequeu's own statement,
the Royal Academy of Rouen approved of his design,similar bowls on high stands of the seventh and sixth
which belongs to the type of cool, impersonal buildings
centuries B.C. we notice significant differences.47 The

43. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, are from B.N., Ha 80o figs. i, 45. 2, Cf. note i8.
3, io from Ha 8oa. 46. Cf. note I9. Lequeu's drawing differs from the engraving
in Krafft's Recueil in some details.
It. Le Carpentier's project is illustrated in the Encyclopidie,
47. Cf. Jules Martha, L'Art trusque, Paris, 1889, figs. 301,
ed. Diderot and d'Alembert, Plates, I (Paris, 1762), chap. "Archi-
tecture," pl. xxiI. 307, etc.; Giulio Q. Giglioli, L'Arte etrusca, Milan, 1935, pls.

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 134 THE ART BULLETIN

Etruscan products many

show ofsupple, almost
the leaders ofor
with tects,
lavish
sculptural too, wished
decoration to b
in harmon
Lequeu, however, builds up unrest
The deep his Tomb of
of the
to overcome
geometric forms. Even the old
if we were to and
find
fest in
jects more like his design Lequeu's
than Rend
the ordinary
stands, we should not be satisfied
is hardly thatin
inferior we h
art
his true model. We would
Sea. still the
But unlike have to
latter
a further
architect copied these characteristic
particular objects
"organic" type. Hisgiven
aim now was now
up, and to create
contr
ate of inorganic
shapes
more rather than than balance. a compa The
such as his early Monument
of diversified to Athena. origin isTh a
of the Tomb is typical temple of the on new top of time, an attaas
element in it, although it differs widely
observatory, a Palladia fr
Romantic productions. plain unframed windows
From the point of view incoherent of its artistic and incong mean
positional principle of the Tomb
tells much of the period appears aga
parently totally different
and again Church and again of thetur Ca
in Marseille, of 1788 The (Fig. 2). This is
gothicizing also
Dairy
ate of elementary geometrical
motifs are further forms: a sp
witne
a hemicylindrical portico,
ways of and flanking pris
expression (Fig
The new compositional garded principle
as just a reappear
playfu
posing Castle on the But Sea,the consisting
fact that such of a d l
substructure, a tall tered cylindrical the consciousnes house, an
superstructure forming there the was base a great of aawak squ
6). Here we face Romanticism
its goals in in the austerebeginnin gra
work of architecture reform is the architecture.
perfect count
restless waves. Inventions of grandeu
The Temple de l'Agalitirare in andLequeu's the Temple oeuvre
also belong to this pointgroup out of the thoroughly Tomb Mon u
signs. Each is composed of a globe
ing storeys, two emerging
cylindr
lar portico. In each is a small globe
surrounded by stands
cypres
of the larger one. Its oftiny the stonework,
mass is effective simila
to the immense void. have Theplanted Temple on de l'Agalit
the Ce
in the year II of the Revolution
among Lequeu's to glorify fantasi a
ideal. It is a veritable
duced product in my of essay the Revolu on Bo
fused or bizarre, but simple
bizarre roofand lines great. of The
bot
dignified Temple deLequeu's la Terre, talentillustrated for devi i
Boullee,48 bears above its entrance
a smaller scale the in the inscr d
SAGESSE SUPREME. He The certainlyTomb of had Porsenn
more i
of Marseilles, the Castle
temporaries on the Sea, whoand knew the n
present a single compositional
of classical temples. concept, t
coordinated geometrical Oneshapes. of his most advan
Pagoda
The feeling for grandeur (Fig. strikes
which 4). Althou us i
cal rooms of the two Temples shows
Romantic excursions with in st
tensity in a mighty vaulted Court
foreshadows the stepped Hall w
the way
mind Boullie's Library.49 to this future
Recalling the tr
on many works about late I8oo, design we become bearing awarth
superior ability to express
Funeral the Monumentsignificance (Fi
tect once more availed himself
by strictly architectural means. of various features
The of the elem
have in themselves past.
the quality
Although ofrestless,
they are still somewhat grandeur
they have
much of that severity which
so well with the intentions of architecture
the in our own time
Revolution
Often the artists present the
was to reach after long impressive
and strenuous efforts. ba
Lequeu's weird fantasies
a minimum of decoration. The reveal much of his era
pure, to
primit
fice to sublimate both
anyone who "great"
is interested in the and
developmenthumble
of the artis- s
monumentality oftic all these
ideas rather designs
than in the struggle may
for practical improve-
ment. Though
derived from the same he looked backfor
sense to remote times and remote
greatness

XI, xvI; Ugo Tarchi, L'Arte ertusco-romana, Milan, 1936, pls. 48. ART BULLETIN, XXI, fig. 2.
xcII, xciii, xciv. Gisela M. A. Richter, Handbook of the Etrus- 49. Ibid., fig. Ii.
can Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1940o, 50. Ibid., figs. i, 20.
figs. 6, 9. 5i. Ibid., fig. 3.

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 NOTES 135

regions, This is the

he wasaccepted standard none
of excellence, if only be- th
trends of cause
the almost every kind of reproduction depends at an
twentiet
unrest andearly stage on a silver image. In making the negative the
incertitude
as now, photographer has already fixed the basic character of
expressiveness
as now great
whatever print is to be made and dig
from it: he has recorded his
turmoil. choice of
It isview; in the
notcase of a three-dimensional
my subject, in
tion he has determined which
between 800oo plane from front to back shall
and
the be in clearest focus; by lighting,
continuity of by choice of the negative
ideas.
emulsion, and by development he has established the re-
NEW YORK CITY
lation between the values of the different areas of tone.
That is, those elements which chiefly determine the char-
acter of any photographic record of a work of art have
already been incorporated in the negative. However well
THE SELECTION OF COPY FOR or poorly they may be recorded in the silverprint made
ILLUSTRATIONS
from the negative, these basic decisions are of paramount
importance and the author's choice among different photo-
CLARENCE KENNEDY graphs is largely dependent on them. He is less sure of
himself when he is asked to judge between particular
The editors of THE ART BULLETIN have asked me to
prints. Silverprints may, in themselves, be good or bad
prepare this note to help contributors in the selectionaccording
of to the skill and care used by the photographer,
"copy" for their illustrations. The word copy as used by in the choice of paper, and then in exposure and de-
first
printers applies not only to the manuscript but also tovelopment.
the Prints made from the same negative at dif-
assortment of pictorial material to be reproduced. ferent
It is times over a period of years may be very unequal
usually a motley collection of photographs and clippings,
in quality. A scholar may compare silverprints, in large
some of them suitable for reproduction, some not, and public
the collections or sometimes at the salesroom of the
copy sent to THE ART BULLETIN is no exception. Anyone photographer, and select the one which, in his opinion,
who looks with attention at the plates in some issuebestse- interprets the original. But even where the direct
lected at random will be struck by marked differencescomparison
in of two prints from the same or similar nega-
quality as he passes from one figure to another ontives
the is not practical, a scholar looking at his own collec-
same page. These correspond to differences in the copy
tion with a critical and judicious eye can soon detect for
supplied by the author. himself the technical faults that characterize poor prints:
The material submitted for the illustrations falls into lack of detail in the highlights; lack of dark accents in
three categories. The smallest group consists of original the shadows; harsh contrasts of tone; areas where the
works of art-illuminated manuscripts, drawings, and contact with the negatives was not perfect and the out-
paintings. In reproducing these, the reversed negative lines that should be sharp are blurred; stained areas due
which is required for exposing the gelatin plates from to insufficient fixing and washing; evidence of retouch-
which the pages of the BULLETIN are printed is made di- ing on the negative, frequently visible as light or dark
rectly from the original. This eliminates several otherwise
crosshatching or the unreasonable restriction of the full
necessary steps and the progressive deterioration of the
development of all the tones in an arbitrarily localized
image which each additional step entails. The technician
area in order that the shadow detail may be seen; blank
to whom such work is entrusted is experienced in lighting
white backgrounds against which the abrupt and insensi-
the subject to the best advantage, and his equipmenttive
is contours of the silhouette prove that they were
more accurate than that available to most museum photog-
opaqued on the negative by hand. Rather than use an
raphers. The result is a reproduction of superior quality obviously bad print, or one that is torn or creased or
(see Fig. I). Such cases are, of course, exceptional. An dirty, an author should allow time to send away for a
author may not be in a position to arrange for the loan new of one on the chance that it may be better. If he has
the work of art itself, or to deal with the problems taken of the photograph himself, and is a skilled technician,
transportation, packing, and insurance.1 But the possibil- he should make a silverprint that looks the way he would
ity of submitting original material2 should at least be keptlike the reproduction to appear. If he is unsure of his own
in mind and is especially worth considering if an im- ability, or the accuracy of his equipment, he should submit
portant object is being published for the first time or if the
his negative as well as a print with comments.3
argument of an article hinges on questions of artistic value.The third type of copy consists of reproductions from
Only by working from the original can the printer get books, and copies of reproductions, even photostats, sev-
the best results. eral times removed from the silverprint which was the
The second type of copy is the silverprint-a print made first step in any process. To make a copy of a copy
directly on photographic paper from the original negative.
of a copy!--but surely, one would suppose, only as a last

1 The Meriden Gravure Company, printers of the BULLETIN particularly hard to find.
plates, have recently installed a large fireproof vault for the 3 Logically, the art historian is the person best fitted to photo-
temporary storage of original material under optimum conditions.
graph works of art, provided he makes a serious study of the tech-
2 Especially drawings and engravings, which can be trans-
nique. We should more often give our graduate students the
ported more or less easily, and for which good photographs are
training required for this kind of work.

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