Mariette and the Science of the Connoisseur in Eighteenth-Century Europe

Download or read book Mariette and the Science of the Connoisseur in Eighteenth-Century Europe written by Dr Kristel Smentek and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2014-12-28 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Celebrated connoisseur, drawings collector, print dealer, book publisher and authority on the art of antiquity, Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694–1774) was a pivotal figure in the eighteenth-century European art world. Focusing on the trajectory of Mariette’s career, this book examines the material practices and networks through which connoisseurs forged the idea of art as an object of empirical and historical analysis. Drawing on unpublished archival material as well as on histories of science, publishing and collecting, this book shows how Mariette and his colleagues’ interpretations of graphic arts gave rise to new conceptions of artistic authorship.