Artibus et Historiae no. 45 (XXIII)

2002, ISSN 0391-9064

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VICTOR GINSBURGH, SHEILA WEYERS - De Piles, Drawing and Color. An Essay in Quantitative Art History

We show (a) that de Piles' scores in the balance des peintres are only mildly reflected in his other writings and that color comes out only as a weak and unconvincing explanation of the space he devotes to individual artists in his Abrégé; (b) that his Abrégé is more closely related to the number of paintings in the royal collection; (c) that Félibien des Avaux, the (allegedly) traditionalist art historian who became member of the Royal Academy much earlier than de Piles, admitted in 1699 only, was less in agreement with the tastes of the King than was de Piles and (d) that de Piles changed views on painting and predicted in a much better way than Félibien and the Academy, who were the painters who would pass the test of time, and those who would not.