Antoine Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy (1755-1849) was the most important Neoclassical

art historian in the generation after Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768). It is difficult

now to appreciate his importance, due in part to the lack of translations of his 21 published

books: three were rendered into English in the 19th century, and one in the 21st. The Moral

Considerations has long been considered the most shattering polemic against public museums

ever written. But I will show that Quatremères polemic was aimed, not against museums per se,

but rather against the imperialist and secularist curatorial purposes of Parisian museums in the

age of Revolution. His Neoclassical commitments maintained the centrality of religion, and of

incarnation, to any proper understanding of the place and purpose of the fine arts.

Louis A. Ruprecht Jr. is the William M. Suttles Professor of Religious Studies in the

Department of Anthropology at Georgia State University.

Translators Introduction

The Text of Quatremère de QuincysMoral Considerations on the Place and Purpose of Works of Art and Their Proper Use (1815)

INTRODUCTION:

MORAL CONSIDERATIONS On the Place and Purpose (Destination) of Works of Art

FIRST PART:

On the Purpose and Place (Destination) of the Arts (Arts) and of Works of Art (ouvrages dArt), Considered in Terms of Their Influence on the Talent of Artists and the Good Taste (Goût) of Amateurs.

SECOND PART:

On the Place and Purpose (Destination) of Works of Art (Ouvrages dArt), Considered as an Influence on the Effect of These Artworks (Ouvrages) and the Impressions One Receives From Them

APPENDIX ONE:

Translation of the Preface to Quatremère de QuincyLettres sur lEnlèvement des Ouvrages de lart antique à Athènes et à Rome, Écrites les unes au Célébres Canova les autres au Général Miranda (Paris: Adrien le Clere et C.ie, Quai des Augustins, No. 35, 1836), Avant Propos, v-xvj

APPENDIX TWO:

The Major Published Works of Quatremère de Quincy, in Chronological Order

APPENDIX THREE:

Works by Quatremère de Quincy Translated into English, in Chronological Order