The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture: The Birth of the French School, 1648-1793

The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (French Academy of Painting and Sculpture)—perhaps the single most influential art institution in history—governed the arts in France for more than 150 years, from its founding in 1648 until its abolition in 1793. Christian Michel's sweeping study presents an authoritative, in-depth analysis of the Académie’s history and legacy.

The Académie Royale assembled nearly all of the important French artists working at the time, maintained a virtual ...