Denon’s Journey in Sicily and Greek Templar Architecture

Abstract

In May 1778, a group of scholars sent by Jean Benjamin De Laborde and Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Non arrived in Sicily. It included Dominique Vivante Denon, the architects Jean Louis Desprez and Jean-Augustin Renard, and the landscape painter Claude Louis Châtelet. The aim of the team was twofold: on the one hand, to portray and describe the most impressive urban and natural scenarios, aiming at a commercial profit for the publishing company; on the other hand, the meticulous study of antiquity − and in particular of Greek or supposedly Greek architecture − linked to the personal and also educational interests of Denon and the two young architects and supported by strenuous activity in the field that went beyond the assignment given by the publishers. This paper focusses on the three main archaeological sites where Denon came into contact with Templar architecture, namely Segesta, Selinunte and Agrigento, in order to assess the work done in the field, its editorial impact and the visual approach with the territory compared with the current situation. Given the modest changes to the sites since then, it was also possible to evaluate the accuracy and the degree of creative license of the designers compared to the reality of the places.