Il pubblico, la finalità dell'arte e l'eredità del passato tra la Rivoluzione e l'Impero. Riflessioni in margine a Poétique des arts (1810) di Jean-Francois Sobry

With his work entitled Poétique des arts, ou Cours de peinture et de littérature comparées (Paris 1810), Jean-François Sobry intended to offer a reference text on the visual arts and their relationship with literature. In order to draft a ‘cours de peinture’ suited to the needs of the new public interested in the arts, Sobry simplified the Cours de peinture par principes by Roger de Piles (Paris 1708). The well-known Balance des Peintres was also illustrated but above all revisited and modified according to Sobry’s opinions on painting; in particular, it can be seen how the author simplified the terminology and aesthetic categories used by de Piles (in particular the terms vraisemblance and coloris). By analyzing the contents of the Poétique des arts it is possible to retrace the evolution of the main themes of the debate on the political role of the visual arts that have animated French art criticism since the Revolution.