Conventions of the Eighteenth-Century Cabinet de tableaux: Blondel d'Azincourt's La première idée de la curiosité

Abstract

The publication and analysis of a recently discovered manuscript, La première idée de la curiosité, written by the prominent noble collector, Berthelemy Augustin Blondel d'Azincourt (1719-94), provides the context for a discussion of the development of the picture cabinet in eighteenth-century France. From Blondel d'Azincourt's text it emerges that the standard conventions of picture hanging favored overall harmony and effect above the merits of the individual work — and this is supported by visual and written sources for a large number of private collections in this period. How far such attitudes could affect the production of contemporary painting is shown in examining the few documented cases of collectors' interiors that have survived. The growing dissatisfaction with these prevailing conventions is considered for the period between mid-century and the opening of the Muséum National in 1793.

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Notes on contributors

Colin B. Bailey

Colin Bailey's research and publications have concentrated on French taste and collecting in the 18th century. He is a past editor of the Oxford Art Journal (1982-84) and author of the catalogue for the exhibition, “The First Painters of the King: French Royal Taste from Louis XIV to the Revolution” (1984-85). [Department of European Paintings and Sculpture, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Box 7646, Philadelphia, PA 19101]