Codifying the Passions in the Classical Age: a few reflections on Charles Le Brun’s scheme and its influence in France and in England

Offering a theoretical basis for the pictorial representation of the passions, Charles Le Brun's Conférence sur l'expression générale et particulière is one of the most emblematic projects of French classicism. The lecture was given in 1668 in front of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture – the powerful Parisian institution which, under the aegis of Colbert, controlled the world of art – and only appeared in print a few years later when disciples of the master decided to publish it . The context was that of the wider movement towards political centralisation and rationalisation which concerned all aspects of life, including literature and the arts. Le Brun (1619-1690) was then a respected and influential master as well as a Rector of the Académie and "the King's First Painter". The lecture offers a