Jan de Bisschop Roman Statue of a Draped Woman 17th century etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
"During his visit to Paris in 1665 Bernini repeatedly stressed how essential it was for young art students to copy from casts taken from 'all the most beautiful statues, bas-reliefs and busts of antiquity' before learning to draw from nature. ... a few months later, early in 1666, the King decreed that a new art academy was to be established in Rome. This would extend to French artists the advantages which (as Bernini enjoyed rubbing in) had long been available to the Italians. In fact, however, from the point of view of the royal administration, the main attraction of the new scheme was that the pupils sent to Rome to study sculpture could make marble reproductions (or plaster casts for the guidance of others) of the principal statues in the city in order to adorn the extensive grounds of the palace at Versailles."
– from Taste and the Antique by Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny (Yale University Press, 1981)
Jan de Bisschop Statues of Dionysus and Satyr ca. 1665-75 etching Victoria & Albert Museum |
Jan de Bisschop Statue of Apollo Citharoedus at the Uffizi 17th century etching British Museum |
Cornelis Bloemaert Statue of Narcissus in the Giustiniani collection, Rome 1631 engraving Philadelphia Museum of Art |
Anonymous Italian engraver Statue of a Faun in a Niche at Villa Borghese ca. 1613-33 engraving British Museum |
Artus Quellien Antique Carved Garlands ca. 1665-69 etching Victoria & Albert Museum |
Claude Mellan Statue from a French collection 1670 engraving Philadelphia Museum of Art |
Claude Mellan Statue of Atalanta at the Louvre 1671 engraving British Museum |
Claude Mellan Statue of Mercury at Versailles 1669 engraving British Museum |
Claude Mellan Statue of Mercury from the Giustiniani collection, Rome mid-17th century engraving Philadelphia Museum of Art |
Jean Le Pautre Terms of Mercury and Minerva 1674 etching, engraving Philadelphia Museum of Art |
Giacomo Maria Giovannini Two Pairs of Atlantes 1694 engraving Philadelphia Museum of Art |
Alessandro Specchi and Domenico de' Rossi after Nicolas Vleys View of the Campidoglio Steps flanked by colossal antique statues of Castor and Pollux 1692 etching, engraving British Museum |
Nicolas Vleys View of the Campidoglio Steps flanked by colossal antique statues of Castor and Pollux 1680s oil on canvas Royal Collection, Great Britain |