The "Cours de peinture" by Roger de Piles

Il Cours de peinture di Roger de Piles. La teoria della pittura di paesaggio nel primo Settecento, Elisa Spataro

This essay focuses on Roger de Piles’ art theory and practice of landscape painting included in the Cours de peinture par principes, his last work, published in Paris in 1708 while he was conseiller honoraire of the French Royal Academy and its main orator and theorist.

This essay analyzes an unpublished manuscript in the Laurenziana Library of Florence, showing off the link between the academic activity of de Piles and the publication of the Cours de peinture.

Focusing on the visual materials and the literature used by de Piles as sources for his theories, an in-depth analysis of the chapter on landscape painting presents evidences for the circulation of Leonardo da Vinci’s abridged manuscripts of the Trattato della pittura in the early 18^th century France.

The study of nature through the observation and the scientific understanding of natural elements and phenomena, introduced by de Piles, are taken into consideration here as the first steps in the process that will lead to the en plein-air depiction of landscape in the second half of the 18^th century.