DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.56731#0128
58. ACADEMIES AND CONNOISSEURSHIP
The Academy in antiquity and in the earlier Renaissance was a Mediterranean phenomenon.
Some attempts were made under James I, Charles I, and even during the Commonwealth to install
an academy in England, but all were equally unsuccessful. One outcome of these endeavours
was the foundation of the Royal Society in 1660. English artists had to wait longer than in any
other country until their desire for an authoritative, central institution and for social recognition
was fulfilled. When the Royal Academy was at last founded in 1768 it was modelled on the French
Academy of Art, where the original Italian current had been transformed into rigid and doctrinaire
teachings. In accordance with its historical genesis the educational programme of the Academy
' was of necessity rational, classical and learned; it was supported by connoisseurs, and the connoisseur
societies, and it stood for the claims of art over those of metier.
1. William Hogarth (1697-1764). Pupils drawing from the nude in St. Martin’s Lane Academy.
Royal Academy of Arts, London.
In the beginning of the eighteenth century a species of academy developed from the private
studio. The most important of these institutions was the St. Martin’s Lane Academy which came
under Hogarth’s sole management in 1738 and was directed by him on principles of general
equality. “As to electing presidents, directors, professors, etc., I considered it as a ridiculous
imitation of the foolish parade of the French Academy,” says Hogarth. The unpretentious character
of the institution is reflected in the simplicity of the room and its occupants—and yet at least
one cast after a classical sculpture appears prominently on a wall. The St. Martin’s Lane Academy
ceased with the establishment of the Royal Academy in 1768.
2. The Diploma of the Royal Academy. Royal Academy of Arts, London.
The Royal Academy was founded in 1768 under the direct patronage of the Crown (the
signature of George HI is in the left top corner). The social pretensions of the Academy and its
homage to the great style—so opposed to Hogarth’s ideas—are expressed in the allegorical design
of the diploma, which was the work of two Italians, Giovanni Battista Cipriani and Francesco
Bartolozzi. Hercules and Apollo, Labour and Genius, support a medallion which shows Art
enthroned, while at her feet appear personifications of painting, sculpture, and architecture.
Britannia on the left admonishes the three sisters to turn towards the imposing symbol on the throne.
5. Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Society of Dilettanti, 1777-9. In the collection of the Society of
Dilettanti, London.
This Society was founded in 1732 by a small body of virtuosi and exercised an important
influence on public opinion before the institution of the Royal Academy. It was prominent in
the furtherance of classical art (see 76), and this aspect of the Society’s activities was expressed in
Reynolds’ picture, which shows the election in 1777 of Sir William Hamilton as a member. He
sits prominently in the centre with a Greek vase before him, and is pointing to the reproduction
of it in the volume on the table. This is presumably the publication of Sir William’s collection
by D’Hancarville (see 71, 1). The other gentlemen round the table are drinking the health of
Sir William, the usual procedure during the reception ceremony of a new member.
4. Johann Zoffany (1735-1810). Charles Towneley in his study, c. 1792. Towneley Art Gallery,
Burnley.
Towneley is shown amongst his treasures in a room at his house: 7, Park Street (now Queen
Anne’s Gate). Zoffany crowded the choicest pieces from all parts of the house into a small study.
The artist arranged the room into a “picturesque composition according to his own taste”
(Nollekens), with the Towneley Venus conspicuously displayed. Towneley is shown discussing
antiquarian problems with his friends, D’Hancarville (sitting, see 3), the antiquarian Charles
Greville, and Sir Thomas Astle, a fashionable connoisseur. The marbles, bronzes, coins, and gems
were later acquired by the British Museum and form a substantial part of its classical collections.
5. Johann Zoffany. Group of connoisseurs. Formerly Lord O’Hagan Coll. Sold at Christie’s
May 19, 1939.
The artist satirizes fashionable connoisseurs of the fin de siecle. They are from left to right
Dr. Oliver, Charles Towneley, Dr. Verdun, Charles Price (seated), Captain Wynn and Richard
Holt. Connoisseurship had become indispensable for the man of taste after the publication of
Jonathan Richardson’s essay on The Science of a Connoisseur, 1719 (see also 57).
6. Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827). The reception of a new member into the Society of Anti-
quaries in 1782. Pen and water-colour. Society of Antiquaries, London.
Dr. Jeremiah Milles, Dean of Exeter, President of the Society from 1769 to 1784, is receiving
the new member, a stout gentleman, with a formal handshake. The Society was and is mainly
interested in the antiquities of this country. The Charter of 1751 states that the Society was founded
to promote “the study of antiquity and the history of former times.”
a. William Hogarth, Tail-piece of the catalogue of pictures shown at Spring Gardens in 1731 by
the “Society of Artists of Great Britain.” Engraving by Charles Grignion.
The -monkey looks through a magnifying glass at three dead trees which he waters in a vain
endeavour to revive painting, sculpture and architecture which have been dead for hundreds of
years. This is a satire on the folly of collectors and connoisseurs who turn towards the “exoticks”,
those old and damaged works of art which are venerated merely for their antiquity. Hogarth’s
ape has its human counterpart in the sitting connoisseur in the picture by Zoffany (see 5).
a
The Academy in antiquity and in the earlier Renaissance was a Mediterranean phenomenon.
Some attempts were made under James I, Charles I, and even during the Commonwealth to install
an academy in England, but all were equally unsuccessful. One outcome of these endeavours
was the foundation of the Royal Society in 1660. English artists had to wait longer than in any
other country until their desire for an authoritative, central institution and for social recognition
was fulfilled. When the Royal Academy was at last founded in 1768 it was modelled on the French
Academy of Art, where the original Italian current had been transformed into rigid and doctrinaire
teachings. In accordance with its historical genesis the educational programme of the Academy
' was of necessity rational, classical and learned; it was supported by connoisseurs, and the connoisseur
societies, and it stood for the claims of art over those of metier.
1. William Hogarth (1697-1764). Pupils drawing from the nude in St. Martin’s Lane Academy.
Royal Academy of Arts, London.
In the beginning of the eighteenth century a species of academy developed from the private
studio. The most important of these institutions was the St. Martin’s Lane Academy which came
under Hogarth’s sole management in 1738 and was directed by him on principles of general
equality. “As to electing presidents, directors, professors, etc., I considered it as a ridiculous
imitation of the foolish parade of the French Academy,” says Hogarth. The unpretentious character
of the institution is reflected in the simplicity of the room and its occupants—and yet at least
one cast after a classical sculpture appears prominently on a wall. The St. Martin’s Lane Academy
ceased with the establishment of the Royal Academy in 1768.
2. The Diploma of the Royal Academy. Royal Academy of Arts, London.
The Royal Academy was founded in 1768 under the direct patronage of the Crown (the
signature of George HI is in the left top corner). The social pretensions of the Academy and its
homage to the great style—so opposed to Hogarth’s ideas—are expressed in the allegorical design
of the diploma, which was the work of two Italians, Giovanni Battista Cipriani and Francesco
Bartolozzi. Hercules and Apollo, Labour and Genius, support a medallion which shows Art
enthroned, while at her feet appear personifications of painting, sculpture, and architecture.
Britannia on the left admonishes the three sisters to turn towards the imposing symbol on the throne.
5. Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Society of Dilettanti, 1777-9. In the collection of the Society of
Dilettanti, London.
This Society was founded in 1732 by a small body of virtuosi and exercised an important
influence on public opinion before the institution of the Royal Academy. It was prominent in
the furtherance of classical art (see 76), and this aspect of the Society’s activities was expressed in
Reynolds’ picture, which shows the election in 1777 of Sir William Hamilton as a member. He
sits prominently in the centre with a Greek vase before him, and is pointing to the reproduction
of it in the volume on the table. This is presumably the publication of Sir William’s collection
by D’Hancarville (see 71, 1). The other gentlemen round the table are drinking the health of
Sir William, the usual procedure during the reception ceremony of a new member.
4. Johann Zoffany (1735-1810). Charles Towneley in his study, c. 1792. Towneley Art Gallery,
Burnley.
Towneley is shown amongst his treasures in a room at his house: 7, Park Street (now Queen
Anne’s Gate). Zoffany crowded the choicest pieces from all parts of the house into a small study.
The artist arranged the room into a “picturesque composition according to his own taste”
(Nollekens), with the Towneley Venus conspicuously displayed. Towneley is shown discussing
antiquarian problems with his friends, D’Hancarville (sitting, see 3), the antiquarian Charles
Greville, and Sir Thomas Astle, a fashionable connoisseur. The marbles, bronzes, coins, and gems
were later acquired by the British Museum and form a substantial part of its classical collections.
5. Johann Zoffany. Group of connoisseurs. Formerly Lord O’Hagan Coll. Sold at Christie’s
May 19, 1939.
The artist satirizes fashionable connoisseurs of the fin de siecle. They are from left to right
Dr. Oliver, Charles Towneley, Dr. Verdun, Charles Price (seated), Captain Wynn and Richard
Holt. Connoisseurship had become indispensable for the man of taste after the publication of
Jonathan Richardson’s essay on The Science of a Connoisseur, 1719 (see also 57).
6. Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827). The reception of a new member into the Society of Anti-
quaries in 1782. Pen and water-colour. Society of Antiquaries, London.
Dr. Jeremiah Milles, Dean of Exeter, President of the Society from 1769 to 1784, is receiving
the new member, a stout gentleman, with a formal handshake. The Society was and is mainly
interested in the antiquities of this country. The Charter of 1751 states that the Society was founded
to promote “the study of antiquity and the history of former times.”
a. William Hogarth, Tail-piece of the catalogue of pictures shown at Spring Gardens in 1731 by
the “Society of Artists of Great Britain.” Engraving by Charles Grignion.
The -monkey looks through a magnifying glass at three dead trees which he waters in a vain
endeavour to revive painting, sculpture and architecture which have been dead for hundreds of
years. This is a satire on the folly of collectors and connoisseurs who turn towards the “exoticks”,
those old and damaged works of art which are venerated merely for their antiquity. Hogarth’s
ape has its human counterpart in the sitting connoisseur in the picture by Zoffany (see 5).
a