Drawings of Roman architecture (1795-1877). Part two : By Augustin - Théophile QUANTINET
This year's traditional autumn appointment at the Galleria Paolo Antonacci, at 12 noon on 15 December 2019, focuses on a selection of drawings and watercolours produced by French architect Augustin-Théophile QUANTINET (Paris, 1795 – 1867) in Rome from 1822 to 1824.
The interest of this outstanding selection, from a French collection, lies in its nature as a homogeneous group of surveys, plans and elevations of Roman palazzi both familiar and less familiar, including Palazzo Barberini, Palazzo Caetani, Palazzo Doria Pamphili, Palazzo Farnese, Palazzo Sciarra Colonna and Palazzo Venezia.
This substantial corpus of drawings has been studied in considerable depth and published in an exhaustive catalogue edited by art historian Alessandro Cremona with essays by architect Claudio Impiglia, archaeologist Eleonora Ronchetti and art historian Sandro Santolini.
Alessandro Cremona and Claudio Impiglia also analysed Quantinet's life and work at the Italian Urban Studies Association's 8th Congress devoted to the theme of "The City, Travel and Tourism" at Naples University in September 2017 and at an international study seminar entitled "After the Grand Tour: References, Reviews, Returns" held at the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome on 12 April 2019. On that occasion, Quantinet's activity was explored in greater depth thanks to the study of another two collections of his drawings, one in the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art in Los Angeles and the other in the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris.
On this occasion the two scholars will be illustrating the French architect's career and his valuable contribution to the study and recording of Roman architecture in the first quarter of the 19th century, much of which has since been either demolished or altered.
