| Summary: | The main European academies we founded during the 18th century, with the Paris and Rome academies as their main references, both for their ways of functioning and for their teaching method. Thanks to the important circulation of people and works of art in the late 18th century, and as a continuation of the Renaissance era’s humanist culture, Europe’s celebration of Antiquity is blooming in the early 19th century, with the neoclassic aesthetic, which partly explains the presence of so many plaster casts of antique works in European art schools. This presence is even more emphasized by the strong impressions made on artists by the antique statues that were gathered in the Napoleon Museum until 1815. European academies all want to gather the antique art masterpieces in the form of collections of plaster casts. As a parallel to this internationalisation of plastic references, the first discussions on an aesthetical definition specific to each nation begin their development, fed by the Napoleonic Wars. New models start appearing in the art academies, either teaching supports or ordered works. European academies’ patrimony becomes more diverse, led by their respective directors. The antique plaster casts collections are also enriched by national models dated from the Medieval or Renaissance eras. This patrimony has had a long-lasting impact on the teaching methods for artists, because it offers a variety of plastic solutions, and because it embodies the dream of a three-dimensional art history, filled with statues that come alive by the students’ lamps.
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