Description
Hutin’s drawing is an allegorical celebration of academic artistic training. The words UT PICTURA POESIS engraved on the stone tablet translate “as is painting, so is poetry.” Classical figures throughout the grand hall discuss their work as they practice different methods of making images. In the foreground, putti sculpt a portrait bust of Louis XV; behind them artists practice drawing a nude model. Among the sculptures in the room are the Farnese Hercules and the Venus de’ Medici, both famous Roman marbles in Italy, where Hutin trained from 1737 to 1742. In the upper right, Fame flies with trumpets above Minerva, the patron goddess of the arts, holding a paintbrush and palette as she drives out Ignorance and Envy.
Provenance
collection Paigon-Dijonval, cat. no. 3347 (according to Cailleux). Private Collection, Paris; [Cailleux]
Accession Number
1998.76
Medium
Gray wash, watercolor, graphite, black chalk, and red chalk on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 53.2 x 38 cm (20 15/16 x 14 15/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Tags
Drawing Baroque (1600–1750) Watercolor Graphite & Pencil Paper French
Background & Context
Background Story
Charles-Francois Hutin (1715-1776) was a French artist known for the elegantly composed, classically inspired drawings that make him one of the accomplished artists of the French Neoclassical tradition. Ut Pictura Poesis from 1745-46 depicts the classical concept of ut pictura poesis (as is painting, so is poetry) in the elegantly composed, classically inspired manner that distinguishes Hutin's best work. The concept of ut pictura poesis—originating from Horace's Ars Poetica—was one of the most important theoretical concepts in 18th-century art, and Hutin's elegantly composed treatment shows the French Neoclassical drawing tradition at its most refined.
Cultural Impact
Ut Pictura Poesis is important in the history of French art because it depicts one of the most important theoretical concepts in 18th-century art—the idea that painting and poetry should follow the same principles—in the elegantly composed, classically inspired manner of the French Neoclassical tradition. The concept of ut pictura poesis—originating from Horace's Ars Poetica—was one of the most influential ideas in 18th-century art theory, and the 1745-46 drawing shows this concept at its most elegantly composed.
Why It Matters
Ut Pictura Poesis is Hutin's elegantly composed Neoclassical drawing: the classical concept of painting and poetry rendered in the classically inspired manner of the French Neoclassical tradition. The 1745-46 drawing shows one of the most important theoretical concepts in 18th-century art at its most elegantly composed.
