« Temples anciens et modernes; ou observations historiques et critiques sur les plus célèbres monuments d`architecture grecque et gothique » Louis Avril, 1722.
Keywords : observation, opinion, representation
The book «Temples anciens et modernes; ou observations historiques et critiques sur les plus célèbres monuments d`architecture grecque et gothique » by Louis Avril shows his observations of the most popular modern and antique monuments and temples, for example the Panthéon, sometimes in a critical approach.
The book starts with a short preface, then continous with the main article. The chapter title is on each side oft the book. The concept of the book is not that visible but we can say that most of the pages are filled with information through text and only a few pages provide technical drawings. The pages with text are not filled completely. The edges of the pages are big and sometimes on the bottom of the pages are little drawn decorations but these have nothing to do with the text, they are just a little embellishment. The space on the sides could be used for small notes from the reader. In the middle of the book there is another title, a second part of the book with the name: « Renaissance de l`architecture grecque ». This leads to a kind of division of the book in two halves.
The few drawings in the book are all very detailed perspectives, floor plans, cuts or interior views of the different temples. Some of the pages have sort of little notes on the border of the pages; often these notes contain the name of the temple, refer to it or to other books or give some further and extra information.
Louis Avril not only talks about the appearance of the monuments but also tells us different background information, his own discoveries and observations, for example about the reconstruction of the Pantheon, where he helped and therefore knows a lot about. This was important to Louis Avril because he wanted to pass his own knowledge and observations to the readers and not focus to much on details of the temples which were already mentioned and explict explained in other known books. Because this would only be a repetition.
To summarize, the whole book is based on Louis Avril`s own observations and do not focus on the details of the most known temples and monuments of the modern and antique.