VISCONTI, Ennio Quirino, chevalier - Lot 129

VISCONTI, Ennio Quirino, chevalier Description des Antiques du Musée royal Paris, Hérissant Le Doux, 1817 COPY BOUND WITH THE ARMS OF LOUIS XVIII. LES STATUES ANTIQUES DU LOUVRE DANS LE APPARAT D'ORIGINE ORIGINAL EDITION In-8 (195 x 121 mm) CONTEMPORARY BINDING. Long-grained red morocco, gilt decoration, royal coat of arms in the center of the upper cover, decoration of emblems representing the attributes of the arts in the center of the lower cover, framed by a roulette, long ornate spine, gilt edges. Chevalier Visconti, a famous Roman archaeologist, was appointed administrator of the Musée des Antiques et des tableaux du Louvre in 1799. In 1817, during the Restoration, he published Description des antiques du Musée royal. The three hundred and fifty-five antique statues listed in this guide are numbered in the order of an imaginary stroll, room by room. Each room takes the name of the most important statue it houses: "Centaur Room", "Diana Room" and so on. The great interest of this guide lies not only in the description of the statues themselves. The rooms in which they are exhibited, and the decorations (frescoes and mosaics) surrounding the statues, show the Louvre as it was before it was completely remodeled under Napoleon III. Thus, for the "Salle des Cariatides" (p. 121), we read: "this room was built during the reign of Henri II, to the designs of Pierre Lescot, architect, and Jean Goujon, sculptor, to serve as the guards' room in the Louvre palace".