Dopo Percier e Fontaine. Letture analitiche e comparate del Rinascimento romano all’École des beaux-Arts

The essay aims to answer the questions proposed by the call for papers for this monographic issue of the journal, devoted to the theme of the patrimonialisation of Renaissance architecture in the nineteenth century, through the investigation of drawing sketchbooks made by Percier's pupils during the Grand Tour in Italy. In the first half of the 19th century, Percier’s pupils at the École des Beaux-Arts developed his lesson, continuing research on Renaissance architecture both during the Grand Tour in Italy and through the study of various theoretical models and the reproduction of graphic tools. Through the close and comparative reading of the sketchbooks made by Guillaume Abel Blouet, Jean-Baptiste-Cicéron Lesueur, François Debret and Prosper Barbot – materials that are known but awaiting systematic study – this essay aims to examine the approach to the historical and visual knowledge of Renaissance architecture and its multiple refraction in the imagery of 19th-century French architects. Starting from the autoptic analysis of sketchbooks and techniques of representation, the essay analyses the theoretical tools used by architects to approach the study of residential architecture and to investigate in depth a few examples of palaces and villas, i.e. Palazzo della Cancelleria and Villa d’Este a Tivoli, in order to reflecting critically on the kaleidoscopic concept of the ‘myth of Renaissance’ and on the relationship between drawing and archaeology in the process of patrimonialisation of early modern architecture in France.