Originally published Paris, 1699, this is a text of fundamental importance in late 17th - early 18th century French art history. “1699 was an important year for Roger de Piles; it was the date of his reception into the Académie as a conseilleramateur. During the quarter of a century between the publication of his Dialogue sur le coloris in 1673 and that of the Abregé, the French version of that old Italian debate on the relative merits of disegno and colorito had raged between the Poussinistes, representing the academic orthodoxy, and the Rubenistes, whose spokesman was Roger de Piles. The year of Piles’ reception signalled an end to the hegemony of Poussinisme in the Académie. From then on there was an acceptance, mainly because of the force and popularity of Piles’ writings, of various subjects and styles in painting. Piles’ academic position also established the place of the connoisseur or amateur in the world of art...Written by an experienced connoisseur for a public, which either hasn’t the time or doesn’t require a full recounting of all the facts on every artist, the Abregé is a new type of literature about art, a sort of brief guide or handbook on painters and painting.” - Collins & Land, Early books on art, 19. Arntzen-Rainwater H113. (Charles Wood, Cat. 160:197)
Abrégé de la vie des peintres, avec des réflexions sur leurs ouvrages