Pierre-François Hugues, Baron d'Hancarville ( Nancy 1719 – Padua 1805) was an art historian and historian of ideas.

Biography

Pierre Francois Hugues was born in 1719 at Nancy, France, the son of a bankrupt cloth-merchant. He himself later added the title of ‘baron d'Hancarville’ to his name. An amateur

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

, he introduced William Hamilton, British ambassador at Naples, to the Porcinari family, whose collection of antiquities Hamilton bought, and subsequently sold to the British Museum in London. With Hamilton Hugues compiled the ''Collection Of Etruscan, Greek And Roman Antiquities From The Cabinet Of The Honble. Wm. Hamilton ...'' = ''Antiquités Etrusques, Grecques Et Romains, Tirees Du Cabinet De M. Hamilton ...'' (4 volumes, Naples 1766-67 but possibly published 1767–76). The 'Antiquities' shown and discussed in these volumes are nearly all ancient Greek vases, collected from Herculaneum, Pompeii and other parts of south Italy and Greece. Hamilton and Hugues intended this collection of vases not only to provide models for contemporary designers but also, because of their great number, to serve as a help in tracing the historic development of the 'stiles of the different periods in the Art of the Ancients' (vol. 1, p. 168). As well as discussing the technique and aesthetic of ancient vase-painting Hugues also propounds some innovative ideas on the difference between art as symbol and art as representation - ideas which he would develop in his ''Recherches Sur L'Origine, L'Esprit Et Les Progres Des Arts De La Grece; Sur Leur Connections Avec Les Arts Et La Religion Des Plus Anciens Peuples Connus ...'' (3 vols., A Londres, 1785). Hancarville Collection Hamilton

In 1772 Hamilton's first collection of vases was bought by the British Museum. The four volumes of the ''Antiquites'', printed by Francesco Morelli and copiously illustrated (and with many copies hand-painted), form one of the most beautiful books ever made. Their illustrations were directly copied by Josiah

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

and other pottery manufacturers, and fostered the Neoclassical taste for outline drawing and engraving adopted by

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...

and others. In 1769 Hancarville was forced to flee his creditors in Naples. Hancarville also produced two pornographic volumes under fictitious imprints: *''Monumens de la vie privée des XII Césars d’apres une suite de pierres et médailles gravées sous leur règne''. Capree, chez Sabellus, 1780 *''Monumens du culte secret des dames romaines''. Rome: De l'Imprimerie du

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

, 1787 These were widely pirated, in variously incompetent editions, during his lifetime. Hugues died at Padua in 1805.

Biography

Further reading