The profession of sculpture was transformed during the eighteenth century as the creation and appreciation of art became increasingly associated with social interaction. Central to this transformation was the esteemed yet controversial body, the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture.

ln this richly illustrated book, Tomas Macsotay focuses on the sculptor's life at the Académie, analysing the protocols that dictated the production of academic art. Arguing that these procedures were modelled on the artist's study journey to Rome, Macsotay discusses the close links between working practices introduced at the Académie and new notions of academic community and personal sensibility. Macsotay also reconsiders the demise of the Académie during the Revolution, when outside events exacerbated tensions between personal autonomy and institutional authority.

The Profession of sculpture in the Paris Académie underscores the moral and aesthetic divide separating modern interpretations of sculpture based on notions of the individual artistic persona, and eighteenth-century notions of sociable production. The result is a book which takes sculpture outside the national arena, and refocuses attention on its more subjective role, a narrative of intimate life in a modern world.

« A highly original book [...| Macsotay's study should be required reading for anyone concerned with the role of the Académie in eighteenth-century French art. »
Malcolm Baker, University of California, Riverside