Abstract
The Free Drawing School (Ecole royale gratuite de dessin) fulfilled the Enlightenment ideal of an education open to all-rich and poor, male and female - and of an education founded not on apprenticeship and the teachings of one master, but on ideas of every sort and the practical application of universal principles. Established in 1766 by royal decree, the school survived the political turmoil of the Revolution and of the decades that followed. The surviving documents, engravings, drawings, and objects that can be traced to the school, as well as the impressive number of artisans who trained there - such as craftsman Claude Odiot, sculptor Sebastien Cave, architect Charles Percier, and painter Girodet - and the important figures in eighteenth-century cultural life, including Voltaire, Lavoisier, the duc de Choiseul, and Madame du Barry, who were involved with the school, attest to its enormous importance in the development of the decorative arts in France.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
