Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

d'après l'antique

English translation:

all'antica / antiquising

Added to glossary by Helen Shiner
Apr 9, 2013 08:16
11 yrs ago
6 viewers *
French term

d'après l'antique

French to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting sculpture
this is a description of a marble statue sculpted in the late 17th century after ancient grec or roman statuary
Proposed translations (English)
4 +4 all'antica
3 in an antique style
References
all'Antica at the V&A
Change log

Apr 12, 2013 09:48: Helen Shiner Created KOG entry

Discussion

Laurette Tassin (asker) Apr 9, 2013:
I think I am going for

Classical statue / Classical style statue

they are all dated....

Thanks so much!
Laura Bennett Apr 9, 2013:
It is tricky. Classical style could work but ancient style doesn't sound natural at all to me. I realise that antique can have connotations of antique furniture in some contexts but it is also used as the adjective for Classical Antiquity http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-study-of-antique-...
Laurette Tassin (asker) Apr 9, 2013:
I agree Kashew:
Statue antique = ancient statue or statue from Antiquity (bit long)
d'après l'antique = classical style or ancient style
kashew Apr 9, 2013:
Greco-Roman Antiquity antique is not the adjective I would use...
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clan/hd_clan.htm
Laurette Tassin (asker) Apr 9, 2013:
style would translate d'après, but I hesitate between
ancient (as in ancient Rome), classical (often refers to Greek and Roman sculpture), and antique


Laurette Tassin (asker) Apr 9, 2013:
The context is the name of a 17th century sculptor, [d'après l'antique] the title of the work, the material used, date of production, measurements, catalogue number...

The other possibilities are:
statue antique
or no special comment
Laura Bennett Apr 9, 2013:
Hi Laurette - is it possible to provide a bit more context? Is this the entire sentence? Thanks.

Proposed translations

+4
2 hrs
Selected

all'antica

This is correct EN sculptural usage, though obviously Italian.

From Jane Bassett and Peggy Fogelmann, 'Looking at European Sculpture. A guide to technical terms', V&A Publications, 1997, p. 9:

A term use to describe a work of art, or any portion thereof, which is inspired by or emulates ancient Greek or Roman precedents. The adjective might describe a small detail or motif, such as the hairstyle of a sculpted figure, or an entire composition based on an ancient source.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-04-09 10:32:55 GMT)
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http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/i/interactive-a-guide-...



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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-04-09 10:37:55 GMT)
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The other term used is 'antiquising' in relation to style.

Some Sixteenth-Century Antwerp Carved Wooden Altar-Pieces in England By Kim Woods


During the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, Antwerp's most prosperous decades as an international centre of trade, carved and polychromed wooden altar-pieces were manufactured in huge numbers in the city and exported all over Europe. They were produced both to commission and ready-made, the latter being sold at the Onser Liever Vrouwen Pand, an art market located on premises leased from the church of Our Lady from 1460.1 Just as their rivals in Brussels introduced craftsmen's marks in 1454 as guarantees of quality, so too from 1470 the Antwerp Guild of St Luke, to which carvers and painters alike belonged, required that the carvers' mark of the open hand and the castle mark of the painters should be applied once the completed altar- pieces had been inspected by the guild.2 The open hand is usually found on the heads of some of the figures and on the base of the carved sections, while the castle mark (or 'burcht') is commonly found on the sides of the case. The fact that these marks are usually clearly visible means that it is very easy to identify Antwerp products - though not, of course, those predating 1470. From c.1515 to c.1535 altar-piece production was dominated by the idiosyncratic style known as Antwerp mannerism in which exaggerated and distorted figure types are grouped in graphic narratives liberally enlivened with exotic dress and detail.3 Thereafter carvers began to adopt a more antiquising approach to decorative detail and even to the human figure,4 but the narratives remained just as embellished. Antwerp carved altar-pieces were still being produced in the mid-sixteenth century,5 though apparently at a reduced rate as the Reformation eliminated some markets and tastes changed.

http://burlington.org.uk/magazine/back-issues/1999/199903/

I would avoid the use of the word 'antique' because of its other connotations. Antiques need have nothing to do with the ancient world. It is 'in an ancient style' literally, but I've never heard anyone use that.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-04-09 10:54:18 GMT)
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I'm glad I could help. Please note, though, it is 'all'antiCa' not 'all'antiQUa'. Expect that was just a typo!
Note from asker:
Many thanks Helen! Had never heard of antiquising! But prefer all'antiqua definitely! This is for a detailed map of the statuary in Versailles gardens.
oops yes! all'antica
Peer comment(s):

agree Laura Bennett
50 mins
Thanks, Laura
agree writeaway : when I saw a second person had answered, I was sure it would be you. Right up your alley, as they say...../in a very good way!!
1 hr
Thanks, writeaway. I hope predictable in a good way!
agree Yvonne Gallagher
2 hrs
Thanks, gallagy2
agree Alan Douglas (X)
2 days 20 hrs
Thanks, Alan
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
10 mins

Reference comments

2 days 22 hrs
Reference:

all'Antica at the V&A

Style Guide: all'Antica

Renaissance art all’antica (in the Antique style) took much of its inspiration from the sculpture, buildings and writings of the classical world...
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