The publication of Palais, maisons et autres édifices modernes dessinés à Rome (1798) by Percier and Fontaine opened a decisive stage in the growing interest for Italian Renaissance architecture that lasted all through the 19th c. before culminating in the work of historian Jacob Burckhardt (Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien, 1860; Geschichte der Renaissance in Italien, 1878). This interest expressed itself in a variety of ways. First, artists and architects produced sketchbooks, published ancient treatises (Vignola, Palladio, Scamozzi), and studies about Quattrocento as well as, mostly, Cinquecento architecture – such as Auguste Grandjean and Auguste Famin’s Architecture Toscane (1806-1815) -, in the line of Percier and Fontaine’s already mentioned Palais, maisons et autres édifices. Then, from the 1840s onwards, new technologies, especially photography, altered perception of Renaissance architecture and its aura, which in turn led to a surge in the teaching of Renaissance art within fine arts academies. Interest in the Renaissance finally had practical consequences with the construction of buildings in neo-Renaissance style and the restoration of buildings of the 15th and 16th centuries, such as the Louvre palace.

Equally multifaceted were interpretations and critical perspectives. If, from an artistic point of view, the Renaissance was considered as an event of universal importance - as shown by the wide distribution of architectural treatises of the 16th century -, it was also perceived as dependent on a spirit of places: François Léonard Séheult, in his Recueil d'Architecture, dessiné et mesuré en Italie (1811-1823), proposes a subdivision of architecture according to the character of Italian cities (Florence “modern Athens”, Genoa, “the most attractive ”, Rome “the most famous”), explicating what had remained implicit in the works of Rubens on Genoa, Percier and Fontaine, Grandjean and Famin. The study of the Renaissance also had local variations, for example in Lyon in the 1860s, when the rediscovery of the history of the city in the 16th century provided models for public and private architecture, as well as for major and decorative arts.

In line with the Architecture and theory conferences Le XIXe siècle et l’architecture de la Renaissance (Tours, 2007), L’architecture de la Renaissance italienne au XIXe siècle. Relectures, outils, finalités (Paris 2014), La Renaissance réinventée. Historiographie, architecture et arts décoratifs à Lyon aux XIXe et XXe siècles (Paris 2017), this study day which will take place on October 2023, aims to reflect on the reception and fortune of Italian Renaissance architecture during the 19th century, focusing specifically on relations between France and Italy.

Intervention proposals may deal with the following topics (non-exclusive)

  • The study of the Italian Renaissance. What instruments were used for the study of architecture during the Renaissance? Which books were reference points? How did architectural practice express through drawing the process of receiving the Renaissance?
  • The use of Italian Renaissance heritage. How did architectural projects confront the heritage of the Renaissance? What restoration or reuse projects acquired a particular meaning in relation to this theme?
  • Geography of the Renaissance. The relationship between Renaissance and geography acquired a very particular meaning, between the search for local identity, reference to buildings bearing explicit meanings in relation to their location, and the search for a supranational meaning through the use of models participating in the “Renaissance myth”. What case studies can illustrate the versatility of this relationship? How deliberate was it?

Proposals for papers (300 words), which must relate to original topics, should be sent, together with a provisional title, a brief bibliography and a short CV, to Ilaria Andreoli ([email protected]) and Francesca Mattei ([email protected]) before the 30 of January 2023.

The presentations, lasting 30 minutes, can be delivered in French or in English; travel and accommodation costs will be covered by the organizers. Date of the Workshop: October 2023 - Salle Vasari (Paris, INHA)

Comité d’organisation / Organising Committee
Ilaria Andreoli (INHA), Francesca Mattei (Università Roma Tre)

Comité scientifique / Scientific Committee

  • Pierre Caye (CNRS)
  • Jean-Philippe Garric (Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne)
  • Fréderique Lemerle-Pauwels (CESR-CNRS)
  • Yves Pauwels (CESR)
  • Alina Payne (Villa i Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies)
  • Alice Thomine-Berrada (ENSBA, Paris)

Sélection bibliographique / Selected Bibliography

  • L. Bolzoni, A. Payne (eds.), The Italian Renaissance in the 19th Century: Revision, Revival, and Return, Milan, 2018
  • S. Frommel, A. Brucculeri (eds.), Renaissance italienne et architecture au XIXe siècle. Interprétations et restitutions, Rome, 2015
  • S. Frommel, E. Leuschner (eds.), Architektur- und Ornamentgraphik der Frühen Neuzeit, Migrationsprozesse in Europa, Rome, 2014
  • J.P. Garric, Recueils d’Italie : les modèles italiens dans les livres d’architecture français, Sprimont, 2004
  • J.P. Garric, F. Lemerle, Y. Pauwels, Architecture et théorie. L’héritage de la Renaissance, Paris, 2012
  • F. Lemerle, Y. Pauwels et Alice Thomine (eds.), Le XIXe siècle et l’architecture de la Renaissance [colloque international, Tours and Blois, 30 mai - 1er juin 2007], Paris, 2010.