French Literature Reviews - 2026
Antoine Gallay, Sébastien Le Clerc (1637-1714). Art and Science at the Dawn of the Enlightenment
Art and Visual Culture
Sébastien Le Clerc (1637-1714), one of the most celebrated and prolific engravers of his time, is equally distinguished by an exceptionally rich and diverse career. After trying his hand at cartography and poliorcetics in Metz, he moved to Paris to join the Gobelins manufactory. Later admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, he worked to elevate the dignity of engraving, claiming for it a status equal to that of painting. Concurrently, he authored several treatises on fortification and practical geometry before turning his attention to optics, architecture, and cosmology. His studio, frequented by numerous inquisitive minds, gradually evolved into a hub of scholarly sociability. Examining the unprecedented intertwining of these diverse practices, Antoine Gallay explores in this book the complex relationship between the arts and knowledge at the dawn of the Enlightenment, shedding light on the conditions that gave rise to our own dichotomous concept of art and science.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Notice
Introduction
Chapter I. The Apprentice Goldsmith Turned Engraver
Chapter II. The Geometer
Chapter III. The Engraver in the Service of the Crown
Chapter IV. The Engraver Among the Scholars
The Abandonment of the Theoretical Enterprise: Thwarted Intellectual Ambitions?
The Draughtsman and His Collaborators
From the King's Cabinet to Private Enterprise
The Logics of Collaboration and Relations Between Engravers
Collaborative Practices and Their Outcomes
An Engraver Directing Royal Works: A Contested Status?
Le Clerc and Metal Production for the Crown
The Production of the Book of Medals on the Principal Events of the Entire Reign of Louis the Great (1702): The Engraver's Failure?
The King's Great Conquests (1683-1687), and the Quarrel Between Van der Meulen and the Académie's Engravers
The Engraver and His Connoisseurs, or the Fabrication of Artistic Value: The Emergence of the Taste for the Complete Oeuvre in the Seventeenth Century
A Broad Network of Connoisseurs
Seducing Connoisseurs: From the Use of Dedications to the Market for First Impressions
The Quest for Totality, or the Celebration of the Artist
Engraving, an Art Equal to Painting
History Engraving, Costume, and the Construction of a Learned Art
"Gathering an Infinity of Things in a Small Space," or the Means of Expressing the Specificity of Engraving
Chapter VI. The Perspective Painter
The Teaching of Perspective at the Academy of Painting and Sculpture: A Perilous Exercise
From Perspective to Optics: The Discours touchant le point de veue (1679) and Its Context
Huret's Formulation of the Limits of the Perspective Model
Binocular Vision, the Ultimate Argument Against the Illusionism of Painting
The Theory of Monocular Vision Demonstrated Through the Use of the Visual Pyramid Model
The Discourse Put to the Test of Perspective Practice
Means of Empirically Justifying the Reality of Monocular Vision
Against Descartes: The Treatise of a Scholar or That of a Painter? The Reception of the Discourse: How to Understand the Mechanics of Binocular Vision After Le Clerc?
Binocular Disparity: A Blind Spot Within Theories of Vision?
Against Monocular Vision: The Empirical Solution of Chérubin d'Orléans
Two Irreconcilable Positions: The Dispute with Bernard Lamy, or Empirical Evidence Versus Geometrical Demonstration
Chapter VII. The Philosopher
Pedagogical Practice Confronts the Theoretical Enterprise: The Traité d'architecture (1714)
Resigning the Professorship at the Academy of Painting and Sculpture
From Didactic Manual to Theoretical Treatise: The Valorization of Personal Taste as a Criterion of Judgment
Architecture, Universal Science or Part of the Fine Arts? The Case of the Treatment of Optical Corrections
Frequenting Scholars: Between the Pursuit of Prestige and Intellectual Emulation
From the Studio to the Physics Cabinet
Print Connoisseurs or Curio Collectors? The Diverse Interests of Le Clerc's Visitors
From Engraver to Man of Letters: Matthieu-François Geoffroy's Circle and Le Clerc's Scholarly Friendships
Prudent Literary Activity: Early Publications in the Journal de Trévoux (1704)
From the Nouveau système du monde (1706) to the Système de la vision (1712): The Scholar's Ambitions
Neither Earth nor Sun: A Plausible System Despite Appearances
A Mosaic Physics: The Place of Holy Scripture in Le Clerc's Treatise
A "New" System? The Origins of the Project
The Project of System-Building: Corpuscular Mechanics as a First Principle, from the Projet du système de l'air (1704) to the Système de la vision (1712)
The Role of Images in Physics and Their Limits
Conclusion
From One Myth to Another: The Universal Artist and Singular Genius
The Plurality of the Image's Functions
Art and Science, Between Virtuous Labor and the Pleasure of Entertainment
Appendix 1. Chronology
Appendix 2. Additions and Corrections to the Inventory of Le Clerc's Works Preserved at the National Library (IFF)
During the early modern period, the boundaries separating artistic production from technical and scientific inquiry were notably fluid, allowing practitioners to move between empirical observation and theoretical demonstration. Antoine Gallay explores the complex relationship between the arts and knowledge at the dawn of the Enlightenment through the career of Sébastien Le Clerc, an engraver whose work encompassed cartography, poliorcetics, geometry, optics, architecture, and cosmology, thereby shedding light on the conditions that gave rise to modern dichotomous concepts of art and science.
The study details Le Clerc's work with the Gobelins manufactory and the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, his treatises on fortification, geometry, perspective, and architecture, and his involvement in royal projects and scholarly sociability. Readers interested in the history of print culture, the intersections of art and science, or the intellectual networks of the early modern period may find this study relevant.