Lectures on Architecture (2)

by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc

Ce livre historique peut contenir de nombreuses coquilles et du texte manquant. Les acheteurs peuvent generalement telecharger une copie gratuite scannee du livre original (sans les coquilles) aupres de l'editeur. Non reference. Non illustre. 1881 edition. Extrait: ...such or such sculptors having been commissioned by the board to execute such or such statues, bas-reliefs, and groups, he is requested to arrange with them concerning the execution. If, in such an assignment, the sculptors who have been rejected are not satisfied, most of those who have obtained commissions are scarcely more so. This one, who has the honour of being a member of the Institute, thinks it.unseemly that he has been placed on an equal footing with a sculptor who is not; he considers himself wronged, and asks for compensation. Another, who has manifested a rather independent spirit towards the board or the Academy--it comes to the same thing, --has only plaster medallions for the interior assigned him, or one of those busts which are the small coin reserved for candidates or artists who are out of favour, but who must not be allowed absolutely to die of hunger. The perpetual secretary of the Academie des Beaux Arts, who is fond of introducing Phidias, ought to beg him to tell us what he thinks of the method of procedure when the decoration of our buildings is in question. However this may be, every one sets to work, on the condition that all the designs will have to be submitted to the architect, or, most frequently, to a commission, so that they may be approved before being executed. Of course each sculptor makes his model in his studio; he has his programme and the dimensions assigned him. As to the style of the monument, the place to be occupied, and the effect of the whole, he rarely takes them into consideration. If his work is to occupy a good position, he hopes he shall eclipse his confrere and produce something... striking. If he has been favoured with a mere..

170 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1987

About the author

Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and theorist, famous for his "restorations" of medieval buildings. Born in Paris, he was as central a figure in the Gothic Revival in France as he was in the public discourse on "honesty" in architecture, which eventually transcended all revival styles, to inform the emerging spirit of Modernism.