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Antoine Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy (1755-1849) was the most important Neoclassical
art historian in the generation after Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768). It is difficult
now to appreciate his importance, due in part to the lack of translations of his 21 published
books: three were rendered into English in the 19th century, and one in the 21st. The Moral
Considerations has long been considered the most shattering polemic against public museums
ever written. But I will show that Quatremère's polemic was aimed, not against museums per se,
but rather against the imperialist and secularist curatorial purposes of Parisian museums in the
age of Revolution. His Neoclassical commitments maintained the centrality of religion, and of
incarnation, to any proper understanding of the place and purpose of the fine arts.
List of contents
Translator's Introduction
The Text of Quatremère de Quincy's Moral Considerations on the Place and Purpose of Works of Art and Their Proper Use (1815)
INTRODUCTION:
MORAL CONSIDERATIONS On the Place and Purpose (Destination) of Works of Art
FIRST PART:
On the Purpose and Place (Destination) of the Arts (Arts) and of Works of Art (ouvrages d'Art), Considered in Terms of Their Influence on the Talent of Artists and the Good Taste (Goût) of Amateurs.
SECOND PART:
On the Place and Purpose (Destination) of Works of Art (Ouvrages d'Art), Considered as an Influence on the Effect of These Artworks (Ouvrages) and the Impressions One Receives From Them
APPENDIX ONE:
Translation of the Preface to Quatremère de Quincy Lettres sur l'Enlèvement des Ouvrages de l'art antique à Athènes et à Rome, Écrites les unes au Célébres Canova les autres au Général Miranda (Paris: Adrien le Clere et C.ie, Quai des Augustins, No. 35, 1836), Avant Propos, v-xvj
APPENDIX TWO:
The Major Published Works of Quatremè
About the author
Louis A. Ruprecht Jr. is the inaugural William M. Suttles Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Anthropology and director of the Center for Hellenic Studies at Georgia State University.
Summary
Quatremère’s Moral Considerations (1815) highlights fine art as it was then being displayed in public art museums and questions whether public art museums can properly serve the fine arts or can only serve imperialism. Ruprecht provides an English translation of this work that is still relevant today.
